


Blame it on Hate

by Holz9364, Mort623



Series: The Eighth Year Universe [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Bisexuality, Blood Magic, Brotherly Harry and Neville, Captivity, Draco/Hermione/Theo/Sadie four-way relationship, Draco/Theo friendship or more?, F/F, F/M, Foursome, M/M, Morally Grey Harry Potter, Multi, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Past Sexual Abuse, Past Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, Polyamory, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, SO, Suicide Attempt, Torture, Violence, all the aurors are characters from stargate, don't blame me I don't know how it happened, i guess?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:41:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 63
Words: 386,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25736707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Holz9364/pseuds/Holz9364, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mort623/pseuds/Mort623
Summary: Part four in the Eighth Year Universe! This is definitely the angstiest part, sorry!SEQUEL TO THE EIGHTH YEAR.Harry, Neville, Draco and Theo are all Aurors. In their mid 20's, they have all settled down or begun families. Everyone is settled in their careers and happy. Until that is, an underground gang of criminals start targeting high profile purebloods...
Relationships: Bill Weasley/Original Female Character(s), Daphne Greengrass/Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy/Theodore Nott, Ginny Weasley/Original Female Character(s), Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy, John Sheppard/Elizabeth Weir, Neville Longbottom/Lily Moon, Susan Bones/Percy Weasley, Theodore Nott/Original Female Character(s)
Series: The Eighth Year Universe [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1865182
Comments: 127
Kudos: 168
Collections: Stories I've Read





	1. You Can Blame it on Hate

**Author's Note:**

> The sequel! :D I've written like 400 pages but not edited any of them yet. Here's the first chapter and I'll aim to edit one a day if I can so that updates are relatively frequent.
> 
> IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE REWRITE OF EIGHTH YEAR...  
> I highly recommend that you do otherwise things in this story might not make sense because they relate back to things that happened in the 2020 rewrite but not in the original version. 
> 
> The story title is from the Carrie Underwood song "The Bullet". That song inspired this fanfiction, along with the Lady A song "What If I Never Get Over You?"
> 
> I hope you enjoy it! :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title comes from the song:  
> The Bullet by Carrie Underwood

*** ~ AUGUST 2005 ~ *  
**

_The Ministry of Magic, London_

_  
_

“Harry, I know you don’t want to do this right now but-”

“We have to,” Harry cut in, “I know, John.”

He sat down in the interrogation room, opposite the Head Auror (Jack Sumner) and his Assistant Head (John Sheppard).

Jack watched silently as John bowed his head, “I need you to go through everything that happened yesterday. Start at the beginning and give me as much detail as you can.”

Harry took a long, steadying breath and began, “It started like any other day…”

_“Aw, look at ‘em,” Theo said with a grin, “So young and willing to get themselves killed.”_

_Draco snorted from where he stood next to his Auror partner, “It’s cute, how they come in so optimistic. Do you reckon we were like that?”_

_“Rob says we were,” Harry said as he slipped out of the Homicide bullpen, “Have I missed anything?”_

_“Nah, where’s your shadow?”_

_“Cleaning up the coffee he just poured down himself,” Harry said with a grin._

_Neville stepped out of the office muttering irritably to himself, “- And I’m not his shadow,” he added._

_Draco and Theo shared a knowing look, and the four men looked back to the recruits who were all lined up before them._

_“Alright, everyone, listen up!” Sumner’s voice barked from the front of the hallway._

_Silence fell immediately as it always did when the Head Auror spoke._

_“We’ve finally had a bloody successful year!” Sumner said, “This year we’ve got six recruits joining us. We’re giving them a weeks downtime while we allocate departments for them, but I want you all to meet your new colleagues. Junior Aurors Euan Abercrombie, Owen Cauldwell, Benedict Smith, Stewart Ackerley, Dennis Creevey and Romilda Vane.”_

_They all clapped, and Sumner ushered the recruits away then barked, “Back to work then!”_

_“Owen Cauldwell? Relative of Sadie’s, Theo?” Harry asked conversationally._

_“Yeah, her cousin,” Theo replied, “They don’t talk much though because Owen’s dad married a muggle and Sadie’s dad was a bit of a dick about it. I think they fell out of contact before Owen was born.”_

_“Ah, right,” Harry said with a frown, “What house was he in at school?”_

_“Hufflepuff, I think,” Theo shrugged, “What do you reckon of Dennis Creevey and Romilda Vane making it through, eh? Didn’t expect that.”_

_“I thought Dennis could do it,” Harry said honestly, “Wasn’t so sure about Romilda.”_

_“I’m still not so sure about Romilda,” Blanche said as she appeared behind them, “I think she shagged her way through. What do you reckon, Fee? You’re the expert on that one.”_

_Ophelia rolled her eyes, “I slept with Evan after I had graduated.”_

_“So you keep telling us,” Neville grinned, “Nice rock, by the way.”_

_Ophelia smiled slightly, “He proposed last weekend on my birthday, so I am not a complete ho like Romilda Vane. I just happened to fall in love with one of my trainers.”_

_“Does anyone else feel like they’re gonna vomit?” Blanche asked._

_“Oi! Do you lot get any work done?” Sheppard asked as he stalked down the corridor._

_“Oh come on boss, you know we work our arses off,” Neville said._

_“Just not generally before 9 am unless there’s a cold body needing avenging,” Harry cut in._

_John grinned in amusement, “Get your arses into the bullpen now. Nice ring by the way Wood. Lorne finally decided to ask you then?”_

_“Yes sir,” Ophelia said with a smile, “I’ll put in a request to change my name to Auror Lorne before the wedding, so long as that’s not going to be an issue?”_

_“Nah, course not. Evan works at the training centre, so there’s no chance of any confusion there,” Sheppard said with a smile, “Damn sight easier than having two Auror Woods running about between you and your brother.”_

_“True,” Ophelia said._

_“We just need to marry you off Zabini, so we can stop confusing you and your brother,” John joked._

_“Never going to happen, sir,” Blanche said with a grin, “I prefer the fairer sex.”_

_John snorted, “Get to work. Sorenson will be looking for you in Organised Crime.”_

_“Sir, yes sir,” Blanche agreed cheerfully as she grabbed Ophelia and dragged her along the corridor._

_John shook his head in amusement and stepped into the Homicide Office, where the rest of his team were gathered. The other Senior Auror was a man called Aiden Ford, who was a few years younger than John. He had retired after being injured in the war but had recently returned to the job. One side of his face was severely burned, and he had a false eye. Unlike Moody’s, however, this one didn’t look realistic. There was just blackness where his eye should have been, and magic had been used to repair the nerve damage behind the wound. There were only four of them at the moment, but they expected that they would get a pair of Junior Aurors now that a decent amount had graduated from the training centre._

_“Good morning, team!” John said happily, “It’s a good morning because I got word from Jack this morning that we will most definitely be getting a pair of newbies!”_

_Harry shot Neville an amused look; they had both guessed as much._

_“And it’s about time a decent amount of kids graduated out of training,” Sheppard continued as he poured himself a coffee, “Last year we only got two pairs, and I get why Jack didn’t want to start them off in big departments but still, putting Montgomery and Pritchard in Missing Persons? That department doesn’t need six bloody Aurors. I don’t even think Fraud needed Madley and MacDonald, but hey, I’m just the **Assistant** Head Auror.”_

_Harry shot John a grin, “You done?”_

_John pointed at him, “Quiet.”_

_Aiden grinned, “Potter has a point; you are just having a whine.”_

_John snorted, “Come on, I’m not the only one thinking it, am I? 2003, only Cross and Dobbs graduated and Organised Crime got them. 2002, only Hughes and Bishop graduated, and Arson got them. It's about time we get some newbies.”_

_Aiden shook his head in amusement and slapped John on the back, “Shep, you know why we haven’t gotten them. Arson needs 6 Aurors to operate, you know how hectic things get in there, and Organised Crime needed another couple of Aurors because Sorenson and Blaine had only just been promoted to Senior Aurors. Homicide has the wonder boys and us. Why do we need anyone else?”_

_Neville shook his head, “Two years and they’re still calling us that.”_

_“It’s stuck now,” Harry chuckled._

_“Speaking of promotions,” John said, “Congrats, Harry.”_

_Harry looked up in surprise._

_John pointed his wand at his badge and murmured an incantation. The words ‘Senior’ appeared on Harry’s badge._

_“You’re a Senior Auror,” Aiden said, patting Harry on the back._

_Harry grinned, “Thanks.”_

_“Sorry Neville,” John said with an apologetic smile, “I argued your case, but Sumner reckons next year for you.”_

_“Ah, I don’t mind,” Neville said honestly. He meant that, he had never been worried about being in Harry’s shadow, “Well done mate,” he said to Harry._

_At that point, a cheer from next door sounded. Followed by a, “What?”_

_John chuckled, “That’ll be Draco finding out he’s been promoted, and Theo finding out that he hasn’t been.”_

_“How come you only promote one Auror in a pair at any given point?” Neville asked curiously._

_“Just protocol, we never promote them both at the same time,” John said with a shrug, “Higher-ups reckon it helps keep a healthy level of competition up in the department.”_

_“Fair enough,” Neville mused._

_At that point, a memo flew in. John grabbed it and scanned the information, “Got a cold one boys. Harry, Neville, you guys can handle this one but grab Wolfie on your way.”_

_“Rob?”Harry frowned, “Is there a kid involved?”_

_“Yep, the dead guy is a single parent,” John answered._

_“Oh, fuck,” Harry muttered._

_“Your orphanage is busting at the seams, isn’t it?” John asked._

_“Yeah,” Harry sighed, “I’m going to have to push the expansion forward at this rate.”_

_John smiled sadly at him, “Too many unfortunate kids in the world.”_

_“And they’re getting a good life thanks to Lupin House,” Neville said, putting his arm around Harry’s shoulder, “Come on, Harry.”_

_Before they had a chance to leave the bullpen, Draco and Theo stepped into the doorway._

_“We’re going to have to liaise with you on that murder.”_

_“Why? What’s it got to do with Vice?” Harry asked._

_“Why so suspicious, Potter? You’re the ones that always nick our cases,” Draco muttered irritably._

_“That’s because most illegal drug and potions deals go wrong, ending in murder,” Neville remarked with a raised eyebrow, “What does Vice want with our vic?”_

_“We reckon he’s involved in that smuggling circle we’ve been trying to take down for the last four months,” Theo answered before Draco could be petty about it again._

_“The bastards that have been selling illegal love potions and opening up bloody pop-up brothels with polyjuice prostitution?” Harry asked in disbelief._

_“Yep,” Theo replied, “His name has come up more than once.”_

_“He’s a single Dad.”_

_“Anyone can knock a woman up,” Draco remarked, “It doesn’t make him a pillar of society.”_

_John and Aiden sniggered at that from behind Harry and Neville. Harry rolled his eyes, “Come on then, put your sunglasses on like the couple of idiots that you are and follow us to the crime scene.”_

_Draco and Theo shook their heads at each other as they fell into step behind Harry and Neville, “Why would we wear sunglasses to a murder scene?”_

_“I don’t know, but we’re the idiots apparently,” Theo scoffed, “What are we going to do, blow the body up?”_

_“You did that once!” Harry’s voice called from in front._

_“No, we didn’t!” Draco objected._

_“It’s not our fault that the guy had a bomb in his lungs,” Theo agreed, “But we were prepared, weren’t we?”_

_“You two couldn’t see properly for a week,” Draco agreed smugly, “Our sunglasses weren’t stupid then, were they?”_

_“Shut up,” Harry and Neville said in unison as they all left the Auror department together._

“So we got to the crime scene,” Harry continued. He paused and took a sip of water, “And there wasn’t much that we could get out of it. The victim was known to Draco and Theo, and he had been killed with the killing curse. We were pretty sure that it hadn’t happened by the lake, we think the body was sent there via a vanishing portkey making it untraceable.”

Sumner and Sheppard both nodded.

“So we sent the guys body to St. Mungo’s to see what the Medical Examiner could glean from it then we heard movement in the trees behind us. We all drew our wands, but the perp had already cast a curse on the clearing that we were standing in which made the trees around us move, to close us in. We all jumped through gaps while we could, but Theo got trapped inside…”

_“Theo just use your animagus form!”_

_Theo shook his head as the trees continued to close in around him. There was one gap left to squeeze through, and it was gradually getting smaller, it was much too small for him to fit through in human form now._

_“No, Rob will never let me live it down!”_

_“So you’d rather die than get embarrassed?” Harry roared over the noise._

_“Just use it, you bloody idiot!” Neville agreed._

_“Now!” Draco yelled._

_“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Theo muttered as he shut his eyes and transformed into his animagus form. He shrunk down and darted deftly through the gap, straight into Draco’s arms._

_Rob looked at the tiny, fluffy creature and broke out into a grin, “A red panda? His animagus form is a red panda?”_

_“A baby red panda,” Neville laughed._

_Draco set Theo down on the ground, and he transformed back, shaking his head as he did so._

_“That’s cute, Theo,” Rob said, unable to suppress his grin._

_“Don’t call me cute!” Theo warned._

_“What you gonna do, cuddle me to death?” Rob asked in amusement._

_Theo glared at the Senior Auror._

_“Bite me with your eeny weeny cute teeth?” Rob continued._

_Harry shot Neville an amused look, “He’s going to lose it.”_

_Neville nodded and slipped Harry a galleon, “My bets on Theo.”_

_“Red pandas are vicious Robert-”_

_“No way, Rob’s got this,” Harry said._

_“You didn’t see Theo fighting the Carrows at school,” Neville mumbled._

_“Vicious? They are just like little fluffy teddy bears,” Rob chuckled._

_Draco took a step back and nodded, “Oh yeah, Theo can take him alright.”_

_“Teddy bears?” Theo raged._

_“How much are you putting on your boy?” Neville quipped._

_“Ten galleons,” Draco said smugly._

_“Deal,” Harry and Neville said in unison._

_“I’m not a fucking teddy bear, and don’t call me cute!”_

_Harry snorted in amusement as a scuffle broke out between Theo and Rob. It didn’t last very long, and they looked pathetic as they rolled around on the grass together, punching and clawing at each other._

_While all of this was going on, the perp was still running along the edge of the lake. Harry and Draco knew this and had been keeping an eye on his whereabouts while Neville watched Theo fight Rob._

_However, Neville had just noticed, “Guys, the perp is getting away!”_

_The fight between Rob and Theo broke up at this point._

_Harry rolled his eyes and clicked his fingers, “Expelliarmus.”_

_The perps wand flew into Harry’s hand._

_“Stupefy,” Harry said, thrusting his hand backwards._

_There was a yelp behind him as the perp was knocked unconscious and fell into the lake._

_“He’s going to drown,” Draco said, cocking his head in the direction of the lake._

_“He probably killed our single dad,” Rob said._

_“That single dad liked prostitutes a little too much,” Harry added, “He might have deserved it for all we know.”_

_“Still…We should probably rescue him,” Neville said grudgingly._

_“Yeah, we probably should,” Theo added._

_“Well volunteered boys,” Harry said, he clapped his hands together._

_A hand popped up out of the lake, followed by a head._

_“Help me!”_

_Draco clapped Theo on the shoulder, “Go get him, tiger.”_

_“I hate you.”_

_Rob cackled loudly, “Pub, lads?”_

_“Great idea Wolfie,” Harry grinned._

_“I hate you all!” Theo yelled as he and Neville ran to the lake together._

_“Just turn into a panda mate, they are excellent swimmers!” Rob shouted, “And so fucking cute too!”_

_“I’M NOT FUCKING CUTE!” Theo yelled as the three Senior Aurors apparated away from the scene._

Harry let his head rest in his hands, “So Draco, Rob and I went to the pub for lunch. We figured it would be at least a couple of hours before Justin managed to get anything useful out of the corpse and you know that I like to leave the perp in an empty room to sweat for a bit before I interrogate them.”

“A very good technique,” Sheppard agreed.

Harry would usually have smiled because Sheppard was only saying that since he had taught Harry that technique. However, he couldn’t find it in himself to smile right now.

“Theo and Neville booked the perp in and joined us,” Harry said, his voice beginning to shake a little, “And that was when they got a memo about a big lead on their smuggling op…”

_“What’s up?”_

_“Finnigan,” Draco whispered, “We’ve finally got a decent lead. That informer of yours did turn out to be useful in the end, Theo.”_

_“Even if Sadie did threaten to castrate me for befriending a hooker,” Theo said with a roll of his eyes._

_“That hooker has just contacted Mitch to tell him that a drop is happening in Knockturn Alley at noon,” Draco said, looking up at the clock, “So we need to go, or we’re going to miss it.”_

_“We’ll catch up with you later,” Harry said, “We’ll see what we can drag up, and we’ll go and annoy Justin for some info.”_

_“Alright,” Theo said with a grin, “See you later. Reckon we’re finally going to catch this piece of shit, Draco!”_

_They left the Leaky Cauldron together, and Rob yawned, “Well, suppose I ought to get back to CPS and drag one of the kids along to check out your vics kids living conditions with his grandmother. I hope they’re okay because Lupin House is busting at the seams.”_

_“I know,” Harry said with a sigh, “But if the living conditions aren’t good, Rob…you’ve got to get him out of there. I’ll find room for him at Lupin House somehow.”_

_“I know you will, Harry,” Rob said, smiling at his colleague and friend, “You always do.”_

“So Neville and I went back to the office,” Harry said, “And we started looking through some files, digging into our vics life a bit more, you know? Shep, you and Aiden were out on another case at the time.”

Sheppard nodded to confirm this.

“And then all of a sudden this alarm started going off…”

_“What is that?” Harry asked, looking at Neville._

_“I don’t know,” Neville answered. They both got to their feet and headed to the corridor._

_Aurors were coming out of doors everywhere. Some of the younger ones were peering out in confusion, and the older ones looked panicked._

_The noise was coming from a light above the door of Sumner’s office. It was flashing red, and a high-pitched alarm was being emitted._

_The floo in the homicide bullpen activated and Rob stepped out. He had obviously travelled in a hurry because he was covered in soot, “It’s going off here too?”_

_“Yeah, what is it, Rob?” Harry asked. He knew it was bad; Rob’s face was ashen._

_“It’s the man down alarm,” Rob said, “I haven’t heard it since the war.”_

_Before any more could be said, Sumner and Sheppard stepped out of the Head Aurors office together, “Man down! Everyone on high alert, Wolfe, Longbottom and Potter, you’re with us.”_

_“Where?” Harry asked, dreading the answer._

_Sheppard met his eye, “Knockturn Alley.”_

“And at that point, we knew that it had to be Draco or Theo,” Harry said, clearing his throat and rubbing at his eyes.

John nodded, “I think it’s time we paused for a break, Harry.”

* * *

Neville took a shaky breath and placed his cup of water down on the desk. He looked up at Jack and John and said, “So we apparated to Knockturn Alley with you two, and when we got there, it was immediately clear that there had been an explosion of some sort…

_“Put in an urgent Patronus, Sheppard. We need Arson and Medical out here stat!”_

_Sheppard nodded curtly and immediately sent an emergency response Patronus out to the Arson department and the Trauma department at St. Mungos._

_They all put shield charms up and walked through the smoke, past debris from damaged buildings. People were sheltering in doorways or rushing for the safety of Diagon Alley._

_“Everyone able, get to Diagon Alley!” Sheppard yelled, “You will get medical assistance, regardless of who you are.”_

“When we got to the place where it had happened…” Neville swallowed, “Outside Burgin and Burkes, there were bodies and blood. There was DNA evidence everywhere…we were…we were stepping in it.”

“Have some water,” John said, his tone gentler than Jack’s tended to be.

Neville had a sip and took another steadying breath, “And sitting in the middle of it was Draco…”

_“Draco,” Neville said as he approached his friend._

_Draco was sitting in the doorway of what had once been a shop. He was staring blankly at a spot ahead, where the ground was blackened. Fire-ravaged Borgin and Burkes but he wasn’t looking at the fire, he was looking at that one spot of ground._

_“Draco, what happened?”_

_Draco opened his mouth, but nothing came out._

_“Neville, his hands,” Harry whispered, his voice came out choked._

_Draco’s hands were clenched into fists, and they were glowing._

_“Get him out of here now, Longbottom!” Sumner barked._

_Neville stepped forward and grabbed Draco. He put up a strong shield charm and apparated them both out of the alley with a crack._

“I took him to this place I know,” Neville said, aware of the tears running down his cheeks. He just didn’t care enough to wipe them away, “He lost control of his magic, he was crying a lot and saying Theo’s name, but I couldn’t get any sense out of him. When he lost control, he drained his magical core and fainted, so I took him to St. Mungo’s and he hasn’t said a word since.”

“Thanks, Neville,” John said, clearing his throat, “I know that must have been hard for you to re-live.”

* * *

Rob’s hands shook as he stared down at them.

“We…uh…well, we still had a job to do. That was when Arson and Medical arrived on the scene. Medical set themselves up in Diagon Alley, and Arson started grabbing victims and bodies out of buildings, putting the fires out and all that,” Rob said, unable to look up at his fellow Aurors, “And we had to decide if we should call it in…”

_“Hughes!”_

_A Junior Arson Auror in her early 20’s turned to look at Harry. She had a kid over her shoulder._

_“Is Moon leading the medical team?” Harry called over the roar of the fire._

_“Yeah, it’s her and Selwyn!”_

_“Tell her that the man down isn’t Neville!” Harry ordered._

_“I will!”_

_Without another word, Hughes put a flame-freezing charm around herself and ran through the flames._

_Harry turned back to the crime scene, “Rob…I…”_

_“You feel sick, I know,” Rob said, “I do too, but this fire is taking hold, Harry. It’s been a dry summer, and this place is full of wood. It’s all going to go up, and we have to get the evidence out before it does so get your head in the game.”_

_Harry swallowed his nausea and nodded. They worked as quickly as they could, gathering swabs of any DNA evidence so that they could test it at the lab. There was a chance Theo could have escaped and that the body parts and the blood belonged to someone else, Harry clung onto that chance with all that he had. They were almost finished when a shout came from behind them._

_“Wolfe, Potter! We need to clear the area now! Borgin and Burkes is going to come down. Your window has just closed.”_

_A mighty creak sounded above._

_Rob grabbed Harry and yanked him up the alley to Ripley and Sullivan, the two Senior Aurors in the Arson department and seconds later, what was left of Borgin and Burkes came tumbling down with a crash._

_“I sure hope you didn’t miss anything,” Ripley said._

_“Yeah, I sure hope so too,” Rob said with a sigh, “Good fight, guys. You get everyone out?”_

_“All but the old man himself,” Ripley answered._

_“And that’s no great loss,” Sullivan said darkly._

_“No,” Rob agreed, Mr Borgin was hardly a pillar of society after all._

_“Come on kid,” Rob said, gripping Harry’s arm, “We’ve got a whole lot of witnesses gathered together in Diagon for medical assistance. These folk will be in the wind as soon as they’re healed up, let’s not waste our chance to talk to them.”_

_Harry nodded numbly and let Rob lead him out of the alley. Most of the fires had been put out now, but it was taking all of the Arson department to try and control the blaze at Borgin and Burke’s. The building had been so full of illegal potions and ingredients that every time they got close to bringing it under control, secondary explosions went off, and some made the smoke toxic. All the same, they spelled each other out, fighting the fire for as long as they could in bubblehead charms and then taking a break in Diagon Alley for fresh air and a bit of bagged oxygen curtesy of the medical team._

_When Harry stepped into Diagon Alley, he immediately sought out Lilly. She was currently dealing with a patient in cardiac arrest, and although he couldn’t hear her, he knew that she was yelling orders at a couple of trainee’s while she shocked her patient._

_Harry pulled away from Rob to walk towards her._

_“And again…3…2…1…now!”_

_Lilly drew back and wiped her brow, “His hearts beating, get him some oxygen! Lucy, I need more oxygen bags over here!”_

_Harry stood and watched her for a moment as she knelt down and gave two kids an oxygen bag each, “Pop this on your face with this little string, see?” she said softly, “And just breathe nice and slow, no big gulps. Okay, poppet?”_

_The two girls nodded, and Lilly drew herself up once more. That was when she saw Harry._

_“Clara! Cover me for two minutes!”_

_Clara looked up and realised exactly why Lilly had asked for cover, the moment she saw Harry, “I will. Lucille, hurry up with those oxygen bags!”_

_Lilly wrapped her arms around Harry, “Where’s Neville?”_

_“Controlling Draco’s explosion of uncontrollable magic,” Harry murmured. He drew back and coughed hard._

_“Did you have a bubblehead charm on down there?”_

_Harry shook his head, and Lilly smacked him on the arm, “You idiot! You should always put one on when you’re near a fire, are you trying to fucking kill yourself?”_

_“Lil-”_

_“Take this,” Lilly said, shoving a vial into his hands, “Now.”_

_Harry knocked it back, and Lilly handed him an oxygen bag, “Little breaths, don’t gulp it or you’ll throw up.”_

_Harry took a breath of oxygen and breathed appreciatively, “You’re brilliant.”_

_“And you’re an idiot,” Lilly said, but it was almost affectionate, “Who is it?”_

_Harry’s eyes darkened._

_“Vic told me that it wasn’t Neville-”_

_Harry took another breath of oxygen, “Good, I asked her to do that.”_

_“And then I asked if it was you and she said no, you were the one who had asked her to pass on the message,” Lilly continued quickly, “And it’s not Rob because he’s here. Did you have a bubble charm on?”_

_Rob shook his head._

_“Take this and breathe this,” Lilly said, thrusting a vial and an oxygen bag into his hands, “And don’t be so fucking stupid next time. You both have children!”_

_“I know, sorry,” Harry said, he had just taken a third breath of oxygen and his head was feeling much clearer._

_“And if Draco lost control of his magic, that means it’s Theo,” Lilly finished._

_Harry nodded._

_“Is it un-healable?” Lilly asked tentatively._

_“There’s no body to heal,” Harry replied._

_Lilly’s eyes flashed, but she said nothing._

_“Lilly! He’s coding again!”_

_“Keep sipping that oxygen until you can think clearly,” Lilly ordered, turning on her heel and running back to Clara._

_“I know that Lilly was just being cautious,” Harry said, taking another breath, “But I think she was right. Sullivan said that the air was toxic and I didn’t realise how lightheaded I felt until she gave me that potion.”_

_“I didn’t either,” Rob admitted, taking another breath of oxygen, “How clear do you feel?”_

_“Clear enough,” Harry said, glancing at Lilly, “But let’s make a quick escape before she catches us.”_

_“Sometime’s it's like you have two bloody wives,” Rob muttered under his breath._

_“Tell me about it,” Harry whispered._

_“And they’re both hot, which is just completely unfair.”_

_Harry couldn’t bring himself to laugh. He knew that Rob was just trying to lighten the mood, but it didn’t work. Rob began the questioning, and after a few false starts, they found a woman who had been close to Borgin and Burkes when the meet went down._

_“Yeah, looked like an illegal drop alright,” She said in a thick London accent, “These two Aurors was hiding out in the shop opposite Borgins waiting for it to go down. Anyway, the guy showed up. He was tall, had dark skin, and he was bald, looked early 20’s, I reckon.”_

_Rob noted all of this down with a quick-quotes quill while Harry nodded and listened intently._

_“The guy he was meeting came out of Borgins, and they was talking in whispers. That’s when the Aurors came out, telling everyone to put their hands up in the air and that. The guy yelled that he had a proximity charm on him for security reasons. The two Aurors came to a dead stop when he said that.”_

_“Then what happened?” Harry asked anxiously._

_“There was a lot of shouting,” She said, “Then the dark-haired Auror took a step forward and the blonde one yelled at him. He drew his wand and said something, but I didn’t hear what. He reached out and then the next thing I know there’s this blast, and my ears were ringing. People was proper screaming and running, and the fire was everywhere.”_

_Harry swallowed and thanked her. Then they drew back. He looked at Rob, “Proximity charm.”_

_Rob nodded, “Big explosion.”_

_“There’s no way Theo could have survived that,” Harry said._

_“You could have,” Rob pointed out, a bit too optimistically._

_“Yeah but Theo’s not me,” Harry said with a frown, “I train-” he took a breath, “Trained - with Theo all the time, I know his strongest shield charm, and it wouldn’t have been strong enough.”_

_“So that DNA evidence..” Rob said. He swallowed._

_Harry nodded, “We’re going to have to call it.”_

_“We can’t,” Rob said, “It’s got to go to a higher authority than us.”_

“So that was when I came to find you, John,” Rob said, looking up at his friend for the first time, “And we filled you in on all of the DNA evidence that we had found.”

John nodded. His eyes shone sympathetically, but he couldn’t comfort Rob, he couldn’t grab his hand or hug him. This was official business; they had to remain as impersonal as possible.

“And we asked you what you thought that we should do…”

_Once Rob had finished telling John what their witness had said, the Assistant Head Auror, sat down on an upturned barrel outside Eeylops and sighed._

_Rob swallowed, and Harry knew that was a bad sign. He knew John better than almost anyone._

_“I’m so sorry guys,” John said as he took his wand out of his holster._

_Harry gripped one of the cages as another wave of nausea and lightheadedness hit him._

_John held his wand up and said an incantation that caused red sparks to fly from the tip, then the tip of his wand glowed red._

“And the message went out to the whole Auror department,” Rob finished, swallowing hard.

_The man-down alarm sounded again, and everyone came out into the hallway. They were all on high alert, so they worried that the alarm meant that all hands were going to be required to deal with a crisis._

_Instead, the red light flashed, and Sheppard’s voice filled the room._

_“Auror Theodore Nott. Badge Number: 1606802000. Killed in action at approximately 12.06 pm in Knockturn Alley on the 10 th of August, 2005. In death, he receives a special commendation for impeccable bravery and will receive the posthumous badge of honour for his service. May we all take one minute to remember his sacrifice.”_

_Blanche and Ophelia looked at each other with horrified expressions as silence rang through the department. Ophelia reached down and grabbed her friend's hand, and Blanche squeezed it back in response as they both looked at their boss._

_All of the colour had drained from Sorenson’s face. Blaine gripped his shoulder, and Sorenson leant back against the wall, letting his head rest in his hands._

_The one-minute silence seemed to last for a long time, longer than any minute ever had._

_When it was over, Sorenson made to leave._

_“Sorenson, you can’t,” Cameron Mitchell, who headed up Vice, said, stepping in front of the taller, broader man._

_“He was my brother-in-law, Mitch,” Sorenson snapped._

_“Yeah, which is why you can’t,” Cameron said firmly, “You need to let the Aurors on scene inform the next of kin.”_

_“But the next of kin is my sister!”_

_“You know the rules, Sorenson,” Cameron said simply. He looked at Blaine, “Blaine, keep him in the Organised Crime bullpen until the next of kin have been informed and then make him take the rest of the day off.”_

_Blaine nodded and grabbed Sorenson’s arm, “Come on, man, you know the rules.”_

_Sorenson yanked his arm out of Blaine’s but walked into the Organised Crime bullpen all the same._

_Cameron, in the absence of Sumner and Sheppard, spoke up, “I know this is hard for everyone. A lot of us trained Theo, and all of us have worked with him. Some of us for longer than others, but this touches all of us. That alarm going off today was a first for a lot of you, and for some of the old-timers like me, I bet it just reminded you of the war.”_

_There were a few nods at these words._

_“But we have work to do,” Cameron said, “And we need to be here to support the Aurors who were on the scene. This is hard for us, it’s going to be even harder for them, and it’s going to be hell on earth for his partner. Just think about how you would feel if it was your partner, and remember that gut-wrenching feeling when Draco eventually manages to walk back into this bullpen without his best friend by his side. Okay?”_

_They all nodded, and Cameron said, “Back to your bullpens.”_

_Blanche pulled Ophelia into a hug, and Oliver snuck over from the Vice bullpen, “You okay, Fee?”_

_Ophelia shook her head and hugged her brother tightly._

_“He was a damn good Auror,” Oliver said quietly, “It was a pleasure to work with him these last couple of years, but I can’t imagine how much harder it is for you two. You all trained together.”_

_“Yeah,” Blanche said, clearing her throat and trying to fight the tears in her eyes, “Yeah, we did.”_

* * *

“You okay to resume the interview, Harry?”

Harry nodded and took a sip of water, “After you called it in, Elizabeth came out of the CPS building.”

John nodded, “To confirm what she had just heard through the man-down alarm, that’s right.”

“And Rob and I started to feel pretty ill…”

_“John!”_

_John pulled Elizabeth into a hug. There were tear tracks on her cheeks, “It’s true then?”_

_“Yeah, Liz,” John said, “It’s true.”_

_“But…what…I mean…how?”_

_“Proximity charm,” Harry answered quietly, “Half of Knockturn is gone.”_

_“Where is Draco?” Elizabeth asked, looking around, “And Neville?”_

_“Neville took him away when he started to lose control of his magic,” Harry replied, the nausea he felt increased, and he began to feel more lightheaded than ever._

_Rob gripped onto a cage too and said, “I think we breathed in more of those toxic fumes that we originally thought.”_

_“Yeah,” Harry said as the world began to swim in front of him._

_“Moon!” Sheppard yelled._

_Lilly looked up, and Sheppard called, “Oxygen bags over here!”_

_She grabbed a couple and ran over to them. Lilly handed one of the bags to Elizabeth and said, “Hold this on Rob’s face.”_

_Elizabeth did so, and Lilly held the oxygen bag against Harry’s mouth. She looked up at Sheppard, “How long were they down there for?”_

_“About ten minutes,” Sheppard replied._

_“Ten minutes without bubblehead charms?” Lilly asked angrily, “I’m going to bloody kill them both! Clara! I think these two idiots have damage to their lungs. I’m going to need to get them to St. Mungo’s.”_

_Clara nodded and called, “Arson has the fire under control. I’m going to grab Hughes and Bishop; they can help me heal the last few, so you’re good to go.”_

_“Can you help me transport them please, Elizabeth?” Lilly asked, looking up at the older woman._

_Elizabeth nodded, “John, you need to inform the next of kin.”_

_“I know,” John said with a nod, “I know I do.”_

* * *

“Elizabeth went to the hospital with Moon,” John said, “Rob and Harry had tissue damage to their lungs which meant that they were going to need an operation to remove the damaged tissue, then they would have to take a potion to regrow the tissue. They were going to be out for a few hours, so it fell to me to inform Theo’s wife of his death.”

“Which you did at his home?” Jack clarified.

“Yes,” John said. He frowned down at this hand, “Yes, I did that at his house…”

_John hated standing on the doorstep of an Aurors home, waiting for a face to appear at the door and then look crestfallen. It was always worse when a child answered the door._

_The door opened, and a house-elf smiled, “Good afternoon, sir. Mistress Sadie is very busy in her writing room at the moment.”_

_“I’m sorry,” John said, “But it’s very important. It concerns her husband.”_

_“Oh,” The elf nodded, “Of course mister. Come in.”_

_John stepped into the house and swallowed as he was faced with a hallway lined with magical photographs of Theo’s beautiful family. In all of the pictures, his twins faces beamed out, and John felt a lump rise in his throat. Theo’s twins weren’t much younger than his youngest son._

_“Mistress Sadie is being in the library next door sir,” The elf said, “You takes a seat in the kitchen, and I bring her.”_

_John sat down in the kitchen, unable to take his eyes off of the fridge where countless hand-drawn and hand-painted pictures were stuck. His eyes fell on a wizarding photograph above the dining room table. It had been taken last Christmas. Theo and Draco were at the centre of it, and their wives stood on either side of them. Draco was holding his eldest child, Elladora, who must have been around one and a half at the time. Their youngest child, Caspian, wasn’t in the picture because he was only two months old._

_Charlus and Almina were smiling out of the photograph as they stood in front of Theo. They were five years old now and had started attending the same private muggle primary school that Harry and Daphne’s eldest child, Teddy, attended._

_John’s attention shifted as he heard heels clicking along the corridor. When Theo’s wife stepped into the kitchen, she looked incredibly pale._

_“What’s happened?”_

_“Are your children here?” John asked._

_“No, they are at school,” Sadie answered, “What’s happened?”_

_John swallowed and said, “I am obliged to inform you that your husband, Auror Theodore Nott, Badge number 1606802000-”_

_Sadie drew her hand up to her mouth, “No.”_

_John looked down and continued, “- died in action in Knockturn Alley today at approximately 12.06 pm.”_

_“No!” Sadie yelled, “No! He can’t have! He can’t be dead! I’d feel it, if he was dead, I’d feel it!”_

_“I am incredibly sorry Mrs Nott-”_

_“No!” Sadie screamed, “Get out!”_

_John bowed his head and left the house as quickly as he could. He had seen every reaction to the death of a spouse that there was in his career as an Auror and Sadie’s was well within the restraints of normality._

_John took a deep breath as he stood on the doorstep of number 11 place. He closed his eyes and thought about his boys, Jackson, who was 13 and about to go into his third year at Hogwarts and Grayson, who had just turned 11 and was starting Hogwarts that year._

“Then I apparated home briefly,” John said quietly, “I needed to see my kids and take a breather so that I could walk into St. Mungo’s with a clear head.”

Jack nodded, “What happened when you got to St. Mungo’s?”

“It was pretty chaotic in the Trauma Ward…”

_“Moon! What’s going on with my guys?”_

_“Wolfe and Potter are in post-op,” Lilly replied, skidding to a halt in the corridor, “It went well, they’re being force-fed a potion to regrow the damaged tissue, but they’ll be awake within the hour. I’ll try and keep them in overnight for observation, but Harry will force me to let him leave so that he can tell Daphne about Theo.”_

_“If he needs to stay-”_

_“I’ll stay at Potter Manor and observe him from there,” Lilly cut in, “It’s my night off anyway,” she gripped John’s arm as she had a slight wobble._

_“Are you okay? How long have you been on the go for?” John asked._

_“A while,” Lilly replied._

_John forced her into a chair, “You save all of us, every day, but you need to think about yourself too. You can answer my questions from a comfy chair.”_

_Lilly usually argued it, but as a wave of nausea hit her, she simply nodded._

_“You gonna throw up?”_

_“Maybe.”_

_“Did you inhale any of that toxic smoke?” John asked._

_Lilly shook her head, “No, I was nowhere near the smoke. It’s just the exhaustion. I was meant to finish at noon. I was on the graveyard shift last night, but then the man-down alarm came in so it was all hands on deck.”_

_“When did you last sleep?” John asked._

_“I’ve been at work since 6 pm yesterday,” Lilly yawned._

_John sighed, “I’ll have to knock that husband of yours into shape.”_

_“Nah, you won’t,” Lilly said, smiling weakly at John, “Cause I reckon he’s just as annoyed at me.”_

_“What the bloody hell are you still doing here?” Nevile asked in disbelief as he stepped into the corridor, “You should have finished at noon! It’s nearly 3 pm!”_

_Lilly shook her head, “The man-down alarm came on as I was finishing. How’s Draco?”_

_“He’s drained his magical core, and I’m worried about his mental health, but Lucille is sorting him out,” Neville answered, “I just sent Clara into the Auror department to pick up Sorenson. They need to get to Sadie. She’ll need help getting the twins from school while we deal with the fallout. Where’s Harry?”_

_“Post-op.”_

_“Post-op,” Neville asked in alarm, “What happened to him?”_

_“What happened to him?” Lilly asked angrily, “Him and Rob are idiots who stand next to toxic flames for ten fucking minutes without fucking bubblehead charms on, that’s what happened to him!”_

_“Lilly, calm down,” Neville said, kneeling in front of her._

_“I’m sorry,” Lilly said, letting her head drop into her hands, “I’m just so tired, Nev, and now Theo…”_

_“Is he…” Neville looked at John._

_John nodded, “I called it after we spoke to witnesses. Nobody can survive a proximity charm going off within a metre of them, Neville.”_

_Lilly let out a little sob, and Neville drew her into his arms, “You need to go home, baby.”_

_“I can’t,” Lilly said tearfully, “Clara’s gone, whose going to cover Clara?”_

_“Not you,” Neville said firmly, “You finished three hours ago. You need to go home.”_

_“Take her home,” John agreed with a nod._

_“But Harry-” Neville began to say._

_“Has Rob,” John finished, “And I’ll be hanging around here for hours talking to people. Get your wife home and maybe give her a sleeping draught. She’s in shock, and she’s exhausted.”_

_Neville nodded, “Thanks, sir.”_

_John just nodded and patted Neville on the shoulder, “I’m going to need you in the office at 9 am sharp tomorrow. I’ll have to drag everyone who was on the scene through every detail for Jack’s investigation report.”_

_“Investigation report?” Neville questioned._

_“Something we’ve got to do when an Auror dies on duty,” John said quietly._

_Again Lilly let out a choked sob. Neville tightened his grip on his wife and pulled her to her feet, “Come on, Lil. Let’s go home.”_

“Neville took his wife home, and I checked in on Rob and Harry in post-op, but they were still out cold,” John told Jack, “So I went to check on Draco. He was just beginning to stir when I got there, but he wouldn’t talk or he couldn’t, I don’t know which it was…”

_John showed his badge and Lucille nodded, “He won’t talk, sir.”_

_“Has his wife been informed that he’s in the hospital?” John asked._

_Lucille shook her head, “No.”_

_“Floo his home address immediately and let her know,” John said, “He’s in shock, and she is going to be the best person to draw him out of that.”_

_“Yes, sir,” Lucille said._

_John walked into Draco’s private hospital room as Lucille left to make the floo call. He sat down next to Draco’s bed. The blond man was staring at the wall, but it was like he was looking straight through John._

_“Draco, I need to know what happened.”_

_Draco said nothing._

_“If you can’t tell me, for whatever reason, I will need to extract the memory,” John explained, “But I need your consent to do that, so if you can, please give me a small sign that you consent.”_

_Draco blinked twice._

_“Okay,” John said, placing his wand on Draco’s forehead, “Legilimens!”_

_He shut his eyes and saw the memory, swirling right at the forefront of Draco’s mind. He pulled it out gently and placed it in a vial that he had taken from his robes._

_“Healer Williams is informing your wife that you are in hospital. I expect she will be in to visit you soon,” John said, pushing himself to his feet, “And we all know what you are going through right now. We’re all here when you feel ready to talk.”_

_Still, Draco said nothing, so John bowed his head and left the hospital room. In the corridor outside, he bumped into Hermione. She had both of the children with her, Elladora, who would turn two in a few weeks was holding her hand, and she had two-month-old Caspian leaning against her shoulder, fast asleep._

_“Auror Sheppard,” Hermione said quietly, “What happened?”_

_John frowned, “Have you not spoken to Theo’s wife? I thought she might have informed you. I was always under the impression that you were good friends.”_

_“We are,” Hermione said, frowning, “She’s my best friend, but I was out with the children this afternoon, and when I got home, she had left the library. She was using it for research, you see?”_

_John nodded and looked down, “In that case, I regret to inform you that at approximately 12.06 pm this afternoon, there was an explosion in Knockturn Alley and Auror Theodore Nott, Badge number 1606802000 was killed in action.”_

_Hermione swallowed._

_“Mama?”_

_Hermione blinked away the unshed tears in her eyes, “Yes, baby?” she asked Elladora._

_“Dada?”_

_“Yes, we need to see your Dada,” Hermione said, clearing her throat, “Excuse me, Sheppard, I need to see my husband.”_

_John didn’t miss the coldness in her voice, but he stepped aside anyway. He had seen many reactions to death, Sadie had reacted with anger, and Hermione had reacted coldly._

“At that point, I left the hospital,” John said. He cleared his throat, “And brought the memory that I acquired from Draco here. As it was nearing the end of the day, I thought it would be best if we watched it together as part of the investigation today.”

Jack nodded, “And this is it?”

Sheppard rolled the vial across the table carefully, “This is it.”

Jack tapped his wand on the table, and it parted, revealing a hidden pensieve. They used it regularly to check that perps weren’t lying about their alibis. He poured the memory into the pensieve and motioned to John, “Shall we?”

John nodded, and they plunged into the memory together…

_“There’s a rumour going around that you’re the one to ask if someone needs to acquire rare and dangerous objects.”_

_A tall, bald man with dark skin turned around and snorted, “There’s a rumour going around that you’re an undercover Auror.”_

_“Ah, good thing that I was never one to listen to rumours then,” Theo said as he and Draco stepped out of the shop front that they had been hiding in. The guy doing the drop had just met with a small, ratty man who had his cloak hood up, hiding half of his face in shadows._

_Behind him, Theo knew that Draco was subtly reaching for his wand, but he couldn’t draw his wand subtly, so he relied on his partner to have his back._

_“Any chance you’ll sell us some of that love potion then?” Theo asked._

_“No chance,” The bald man said as he drew his wand and pointed it at Theo._

_“Saw that one coming a mile off,” Draco murmured from behind Theo._

_“You and me both.”_

_“What are you two whispering about?” He asked sharply._

_“Oh just about how you won’t kill us because you’re stupid, but you’re not **that** stupid. Killing an Auror gets you life in the worst corner of Azkaban after all,” Theo remarked._

_“Theo, stop mouthing off,” Draco muttered._

_The perp laughed, “I’m not stupid enough to kill an Auror, you’re right. But if a freak explosion happened to go off…well, I wouldn’t get the blame, would I?”_

_Draco raised an eyebrow, “Freak explosion?”_

_“Proximity charm,” Theo said, looking their perp in the eye._

_“So you’re the smart one,” The perp said with a smirk, “Yeah, I got a proximity charm on me. Boss likes to use em for security. Make sure we ain’t followed.”_

_“So he puts your life at risk for security?” Theo asked with a raised eyebrow, “Some boss, eh?”_

_As he said this, he looked in the perps eye, but Draco had no idea what he was expecting to see there._

_“No fear…” Theo whispered, leaning back a little so that only Draco could hear him, “He knows he’s going to die. He’s always planned on blowing up the whole street, and himself with it.”_

_“And us,” Draco hissed._

_“Yeah, us too,” Theo agreed._

_Draco shook his head in disbelief, “How do we keep getting into these situations?”_

_“15 years of friendship and I still don’t know,” Theo returned. He shot Draco a smirk over his shoulder and said, “But I have a plan.”_

_Theo took a step forward._

_“Theo, what are you doing?” Draco yelled._

_Theo didn’t answer, but he reached out, and then the explosion wracked the street, throwing Draco back with the force of it._

“There was nothing Black could have done,” Jack said to John.

John nodded his agreement.

“Can you state that you agree, Sheppard?” Jack asked, “For the record.”

“Sorry, sir,” John remarked, “I do agree that there was nothing that Black could have done.”

“Then that concludes the investigation,” Jack said simply, “No one at fault in the tragic death of Auror Theodore Nott. Badge number 1606802000. Ruled simply as death in duty on the 10th of August and 12.08 pm in Knockturn Alley. DNA evidence has been given to the morgue for analysis, and the case will be pursued by Senior Auror Sheppard and Senior Auror Ford from the Homicide Team.”

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	2. The Tears Keep Flowing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title comes from the song:  
> The Bullet by Carrie Underwood

“You don’t understand. I need to get out! I need to tell my wife about what happened today before she finds out through the papers or-”

Lilly stepped into the hospital room that Harry and Rob were sharing, “Arguing with my staff again, I see?”

“Your staff aren’t letting me leave,” Harry said. He turned his glare on Lilly, but it softened when he saw her bloodshot eyes, the bags beneath them and her pale face, “I need to go home, Lilly.”

“I know you do,” Lilly said, “Which is why I’m here. Kepner, discharge him into my care.”

The young Healer’s eyes widened, “But ma’am, you just worked a 12-hour shift-”

“And I’ve had a power nap, so I’ll be fine,” Lilly said calmly, “It’s in my best interests to get this man home to his wife because she happens to be my best friend, and she is heavily pregnant. So, discharge him into my care.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Kepner said, “I’ll just go and get the paperwork.”

Harry looked up at the clock. It was approaching 6 pm. Daphne would be wondering where he was by now surely.

“I sent her a Patronus to say you were running late,” Lilly said, sitting down on the edge of Harry’s bed, “But you need to go home. She needs to find out what happened, and she needs to hear it from you.”

Harry just nodded.

“I’ll let you apparate home on your own, but I’ll come through the vanishing cabinet after ten minutes or so,” Lilly told him, “Just in case she goes into labour, or hexes you.”

“Or both, if it’s anything like the aftermath of Andrea’s birth,” Harry said with a weak smile.

Lilly reached down and took his hand, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a bit of minor tissue regrowth-”

“I don’t mean physically,” Lilly said, sitting on the edge of the bed and glancing at Rob who appeared to be asleep, “You saw a horrible thing.”

“I just saw the aftermath, Draco saw it,” Harry said, his eyes darkening, “And I don’t know if he’ll ever be the same. If it had been Neville…” he swallowed, “I feel sick just thinking about it. I just…I can’t imagine it being him.”

Lilly reached across and kissed him on the cheek, “We’ll both stay at Potter Manor tonight. I think it will do everyone some good and the last thing we need is you reaching for a bottle of Ogden's and relapsing right now.”

“True,” Harry agreed. He couldn’t pretend that he hadn’t thought about it too. He looked at Lilly again, “Are you okay because you don’t look like you are.”

“Are you saying I look like shit?” Lilly asked with a weak smile.

“Yeah, Lil, you look like shit,” Harry agreed, concern in his eyes.

Lilly yawned, “I’m tired, Harry. It’s been a long 24 hours, and they have been pretty taxing on the emotional front too.”

“Yeah,” Harry agreed, “They have been.”

* * *

When Harry walked into the drawing-room of Potter Manor, he allowed himself to indulge in one moment of normality before he brought it all crashing down around their heads.

Teddy, who was seven years old now and halfway to Harry's height, grinned at him, "Dad!"

Harry tried his best to smile at his son, "Hey Teddy. Where's Mum?"

"In the kitchen with the babies," Teddy said as he bounced over to Harry, "Uncle Bill gave me this book today!"

Harry smiled when he saw the book of ancient Egyptian myths, "Awesome. How was school?”

“Great,” Teddy said happily, “But I have history homework, and Mum says that’s your area of expertise.”

Harry nodded, “I’ll help you out with it, don’t worry. But I really need to talk to your Mum, you stay up here out of trouble, okay?"

"Yeah, Dad," Teddy said, sensing that something was wrong. He was a smart kid; he always had been.

Harry took a breath and walked into the kitchen to a sight he loved. Alastor was playing with his younger sister, Andrea. She had been named after Andromeda when the woman they both considered as a mother figure had died just a few weeks before Daphne gave birth.

_“I know you don’t like naming kids after people who have died,” Harry said as he sat next to Daphne’s bed, “But I kind of think we should call this one Andromeda.”_

_“Andromeda?” Daphne asked, raising an eyebrow at him, “That’s not honouring her, Harry. She’d come back from the dead and haunt you for that. She always hated her name.”_

_“I suppose,” Harry said._

_Daphne smiled sleepily at him, “How about Andrea? It can still be shortened to Andie, or Rhea if she hates that.”_

_Harry smiled at his wife, “Yeah and for a middle name, do you think we could consider Lily?”_

_“With one condition,” Daphne nodded._

_“The condition being?”_

_“We spell it our Lilly’s way,” Daphne said, “Because that was a quick birth and although Lilly claims it would have been fine if she hadn’t been there, I’m not so sure.”_

_“I can agree to that condition since she delivered our baby,” Harry said, looking down at the sleeping girl and smiling, “Andrea Lilly Potter…welcome to the world, baby.”_

_Daphne smiled too and bit back a yawn._

_“Get some sleep, babe,” Harry said, kissing his wife on the forehead, “You know Nev and Lil will look after Ted and Al, and I’m here if Andrea wakes up.”_

_“Okay,” Daphne mumbled through a yawn._

Alastor and Andrea were only ten months apart in age, so they got on rather well. Alastor was a couple of months away from his third birthday, and he was very sweet. He was always giving his sister toys. In return, she tended to lob them across the room and giggle. Andrea had just turned two the previous day. Everyone had been round at the house on Saturday for her party.

Theo had been chasing the twins and Teddy around on small broomsticks. Harry felt a surge of nausea when he thought about that moment, about how happy it had been but none of them had realised that it would be the last time he played with his kids like that.

Harry looked at his wife. Daphne was singing along to a song on the radio as the food cooked itself. She had done it all by hand at one point, but she was eight months pregnant and only three weeks away from her due date, so he didn't blame her for being a little lazy.

He watched her for a moment as the baby gave her a kick. She made a small noise of discomfort and placed her hand on her stomach with a slight smile.

“Would you calm down? You little bludger,” Daphne mumbled to herself.

She loved being pregnant; she saw it as a complete gift because of how hard they had to try before she fell pregnant with Andrea. After that, it had been relatively easy, they had agreed not to use the protection charm, and not long after Andrea turned one, Daphne fell pregnant again.

Harry still thought she looked beautiful even though she questioned that these days. She wasn’t huge like she claimed though; her bump was big, but it was very neat. She was still wandering around in the tightest leggings she could, with a fitted black lace maternity top to match. The heels had just been swapped for slippers, which usually made Harry smile but not tonight.

"Hey guys," Harry said, kneeling down to kiss Andrea on the cheek.

"Daddy!" Alastor said.

Andrea squealed, "Dad!"

He picked them both up and squeezed them tightly. Some days he appreciated this greeting more than most, but tonight it felt better than a bottle of Ogden's ever had.

When he put them down and turned to look at Daphne, her face fell. She grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the other side of the kitchen, out of earshot of the kids.

"Who is it?"

Harry opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He shut it and felt the lump in his throat constrict it to the point that he felt like he couldn't breathe. He rested his head against her forehead and whispered, "Theo."

It was choked, it was the first time that he had said his name out loud since it had happened.

Daphne's eyes widened, "And is he in the hospital?"

Harry shook his head and pulled back. He leant against the work surface and shook his head again, "He's dead."

He couldn't look into her eyes when he said it. He heard her inhale sharply, "But...how?"

"Explosion," Harry said quietly, "There was no body but the...the uh...the DNA evidence matches up."

Daphne gripped the counter too, "I think I'm going to be sick."

“The last time you said that while you were heavily pregnant, it was cause you were in labour.”

Daphne didn’t look up, “That’s not funny, Lil.”

“Yeah, I’m not entirely joking,” Lilly admitted, “No contractions?”

Daphne shook her head, “I’m not in labour. I just…”

“Can’t process it?” Harry guessed.

“Yeah.”

“Neither can I,” Harry admitted.

Lilly put an arm around her friend and said, “But please try not to freak out, or you will go into labour early. Okay?”

Daphne nodded and took a deep breath to steady herself. Neville stepped into the kitchen just as Lilly was coaxing Daphne into a chair.

The moment Harry saw him, they locked eyes and crossed the room to hug each other. They hugged a little too tightly, for a little too long, but it was understandable, given the circumstances.

“You okay?” Neville asked when he drew back.

“Yeah, breathing hurts a bit, but I’ll be fine,” Harry said offhandedly, “Hows Draco?”

“Not good,” Neville replied, “In shock, I reckon. He drained his magical core when he lost control of his magic, and he cried and shouted Theo’s name while that was happening, but he hasn’t said a word since.”

“I don’t blame him,” Harry said, leaning against the counter, “I…I keep thinking about you.”

“I know,” Neville said, leaning down next to Harry, his arm resting against the shorter mans, “I’ve been doing it too. You can’t help it when something like this happens, and I keep thinking about us, about how I’d cope if I were in Draco’s shoes.”

“You reckon you’d cope?” Harry asked.

“I don’t know, I think Lil would make me wake up and realise that you’d be pissed if I drank your memory away with whiskey,” Neville said quietly, “But you never know how you’ll be in a situation like that until it happens.”

“I hope it never does,” Harry said, gripping Neville’s hand briefly.

“Yeah, me too,” Neville agreed. He squeezed Harry’s hand then let go, and they both turned to look at their wives.

“I need to talk to Sadie,” Daphne said, trying to push herself to her feet.

“No,” Lilly said firmly, “You need to rest, and you can’t talk to Sadie even if you wanted to.”

“Why?” Harry and Daphne asked in unison.

“Hermione floo-ed, just before I broke you out of the hospital,” Lilly told Harry, “She found out when she went to visit Draco that Theo had…died. When she got back to number 12, Sadie had locked and warded the front door and the door in the basement. She’s locked everyone out of the floo and encrypted it too. I asked Clara if she had seen her, and she said that after she and Sorenson dropped the twins off, Sadie shut the door on them and that was when all the wards went up.”

“So she’s dealing with her pain by shutting everyone out then,” Daphne said with a shake of her head, “Just like she did during the war.”

“What are we going to do?” Harry asked.

“Nothing,” Daphne said, her eyes falling on Alastor and Andrea, “I can break the encryption on the floo but-”

“But there is no way in hell you’re doing magic like that when you’re heavily pregnant,” Harry finished.

“I second that,” Neville agreed.

“And as the only one with proper medical expertise, I absolutely third that,” Lilly said sternly.

Daphne sighed, “I was _going_ to say but I wouldn’t anyway because it would be completely unfair to break her trust like that. If she wants privacy, we have to give her privacy.”

“What about Draco?” Harry asked.

“We can’t do anything,” Neville said, sitting down opposite Daphne.

Daphne nodded, “If it was you, the only people who could pull you out of it would be Harry and Lilly. If Harry was dead, it would be down to Lilly.”

“Hermione needs to handle that one on her own, I’m afraid,” Lilly agreed, “But Susan is staying at number 12 tonight to help Hermione with the kids.”

“Good,” Harry said, sighing heavily, “At least she has somebody.”

Neville nodded.

“Let's try and get some food into everyone,” Lilly said, “Then we’ll get the kids down. After that, we all need to try and get some sleep even if it’s the last thing we feel like doing right now.”

“You guys head up to bed together,” Harry said, “I could do with a night away from Daphne and her twitchy feet.”

“What about you two?” Lilly asked.

“We’ll have a late one in the basement,” Harry answered.

“But you know that we can get through the day on a couple of hours sleep, so don’t worry too much about us. Okay?” Neville added, “Just look after Daphne, and make sure you get some rest.”

“Fine,” Lilly agreed, “But if you hear the slightest cough from him, you wake me up, Neville.”

Neville nodded, “Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on him.”

Daphne sighed and let her head fall into her hands. Harry squeezed her shoulder and said, “Try to put a brave face on for the little ones love. I’ll go upstairs and tell Teddy what’s happened.”

* * *

“That’s Ella all tucked up with Harvey the Hippogriff,” Susan said as she stepped into the drawing-room where Hermione was feeding Caspian.

“I’ll get Cas down after his feed,” Hermione said, staring straight ahead.

Susan followed her line of sight and sighed. Hermione was looking at a photograph, the most recent one in the house. It had been taken in the hospital after Hermione had given birth to Caspian. Draco was sitting on the edge of her bed, and Theo and Sadie stood on the other side.

“I’ll stay tonight,” Susan said, “Percy is dropping Addie off at Molly’s tomorrow morning anyway.”

“Don’t worry about it, Susan,” Hermione said. Caspian had finished feeding, so she started to rock him in her arms, “I won’t sleep anyway.”

Susan sat down next to Hermione. She wasn’t quite sure what to say, but before she could say anything, Hermione started to talk.

“Draco is in shock apparently,” Hermione said, her tone cold and emotionless, “He won’t talk, or he can’t. They aren’t quite sure which one it is yet but either way, it’s because of the shock. I was in his hospital room for half an hour, and he didn’t say a word to any of us. He let Ella climb into bed with him, and he hugged her with tears rolling down his cheeks, but he didn’t say a word.”

A solitary tear rolled down Hermione’s cheek, and she swallowed hard. Susan gently took Caspian from her as he gurned and wriggled, sensing his mother's stress.

“And Sadie has locked everything up and shut everyone out,” Hermione said as another tear rolled down her cheek, “So where does that leave me? On my own with two young kids, left to deal with the fallout because they handle their own emotions selfishlessly? Well, it’s not fair Susan because I love Theo too!”

“I know honey,” Susan said, she placed Caspian gently down in his bassinet and put a silencing bubble around it so they wouldn’t wake him up with their conversation.

She walked across to Hermione and drew her into a hug, “I know you did.”

Hermione let out a choked sob at the word, ‘did’. She had referred to Theo in the present tense, but that was wrong. He was dead.

* * *

When Hermione walked into Draco’s hospital room the morning after Theo’s death, she was alone, and she was angry. She had left the kids with her mother, which was a big step because this was the first time she had been away from Caspian since he was born.

Draco was staring blankly at the same wall that he had been yesterday.

Hermione scoffed and shook her head. She shut the door behind her and said, “Muffliato.”

Still, Draco didn’t stir.

“So this is how it’s going to be then,” Hermione said coldly, “Theo dies, and everything falls apart? I always knew he was the glue that held everything together. Everyone on the outside thinks that person is me, but it’s not, and it never has been. It has always been Theo.”

Still, Draco said nothing.

“Sadie has locked and warded every door, and the floo system,” Hermione barked, “She’s shut herself in and shut everyone out, all to try and shut out the pain and then there’s you.”

Her voice dripped with venom, “Draco Malfoy, who deals with his problems by ignoring them just like his father did, and look at where that got him.”

Draco’s eyes snapped up at that, “Don’t you dare compare me to him.”

“Why not?” Hermione asked hotly, “Right now, you’re acting like him. You’re acting as selfishly as you did when you were a Malfoy.”

Draco’s eyes flashed.

“I know you’re both grieving, but what about me?” Hermione asked as tears burned at her eyes, “I loved Theo too, but there’s no one there for me, is there? Not with Sadie locked in her house and you wallowing in self-pity!”

“It’s my fault he’s dead!” Draco thundered.

Hermione stared her husband in the eye, “No, it’s not.”

“Yes, it is,” Draco hissed, “I don’t care what the fucking investigation report says before you start spouting facts or fucking statistics at me, okay? I’m…I was…. I was his Auror partner, and I didn’t save his life. It’s my fault.”

“Draco, it wouldn’t have mattered who was there,” Hermione said, her tone softer, “He couldn’t have…nobody could have survived a proximity charm at close range like that.”

Draco shut his eyes tightly, and Hermione sat down on the edge of his bed. She reached out tentatively and was pleased when he didn’t pull his hand out of reach of hers.

“I love him more than almost anything in this world, bar you and the kids,” Draco said in a choked whisper, “And he’s dead because of me.”

Hermione pulled Draco into her arms as he finally let himself break down. She hoped that was the beginning of his road to acceptance. He didn’t say anything as his body shook in her arms and after what felt like a long time, he said.

“Sadie locked you out.”

“Yes,” Hermione sighed, her chin resting on top of Draco’s head, “She locked and warded the front door and the basement door. She’s even locked the floo, Daphne can break the encryption, but she doesn’t want to invade Sadie’s privacy and she-”

“Shouldn’t be doing that kind of magic when she’s heavily pregnant,” Draco finished.

“Exactly,” Hermione said.

“There is another way in,” Draco admitted, drawing back from Hermione with bloodshot eyes. He looked awful; he was paler than usual, there were bags under his eyes, and he just looked ill.

“I knew there would be,” Hermione said. She smiled sadly at him, “I knew you would have put a failsafe in after Theo locked you out that first time, but I just didn’t know where it was and you wouldn’t talk to me.”

“There’s a secret passageway,” Draco said, “The entrance in our house is in the hall, behind the-”

“ – portrait of Abraxas and Elladora Malfoy,” Hermione finished, “And it comes out in the drawing-room of number 11 behind the portrait of Thaddeus Nott?”

“Yes,” Draco confessed, “But I think we should both go through. Maybe hitting me or cursing me will make Sadie feel better.”

“I very much doubt that she blames you, Draco,” Hermione said softly.

“She should,” Draco said darkly.

Hermione shook her head and squeezed his hand, “No, she shouldn’t because it wasn’t your fault.”

* * *

When Draco got home that day, he hugged Elladora and sat on the floor with her for an hour, just smiling and nodding as she held up each of her toys and babbled to him about them. Hermione watched him with concern as she pottered about with Caspian.

“Here, I’ll put him down for his nap,” Draco said when he saw her struggling to settle their son.

The moment Draco held Caspian, he began to calm down. Hermione sighed, “He’s always settled better for you.”

Draco didn’t say anything. He just bounced the little boy for a moment as his eyes began to flutter shut, “I’ll put him down then go next door.”

“Do you want me to-”

Draco shook his head, “We don’t want to overwhelm her.”

“I know,” Hermione said, biting her lip, “I just…I’m worried about her too.”

“I know you are,” Draco said. He kissed Hermione on the cheek, “I might not get very far before she banishes me from the house anyway. In which case, you’ll be the next one to try it.”

Hermione nodded and kissed Draco lightly, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” He said, looking down at his infant son and managing the smallest of genuine smiles.

* * *

When the portrait of Thaddeus Nott swung forward, Sadie wasn’t even surprised. She just scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest, “Of course.”

Draco stepped out and looked at her warily.

“Of course you put a failsafe in,” Sadie said bitterly.

“Sadie-”

“Don’t you ‘Sadie’ me!” Sadie yelled, “Where were you when he died, Draco?”

“I was…” Draco swallowed, “I was with him.”

“So why the hell didn’t you do something?” Sadie asked, throwing a punch that he didn’t even bother trying to block,

“Why did you let him die?” She screamed.

“I…” Draco closed his mouth, “I couldn’t. Sadie, there was nothing that I could do.”

“I hate you!” Sadie yelled, punching him again.

“I know.”

“I hate you so much!” She punched him a third time, but her anger was turning into grief now.

“I hate you,” She sobbed, falling into Draco’s arms.

“I know,” Draco whispered, resting his chin on top of her head as she sobbed incoherently.

They stood like that for a long time. Sadie sobbed, Draco let silent tears roll down his cheeks as he wondered if she would ever forgive him.

“I had to tell Mina and Charlie this morning,” Sadie said, her voice was muffled because she was speaking against his chest, “I had to explain to my children that their Daddy wasn’t coming home.”

Draco tightened his grip on her.

“I had to tell them that he was in heaven now, with Grandma Almina,” Sadie said, her voice choked with emotion, “Do you know how hard that is?”

“No,” Draco said, his voice was rough with emotion, “But you shouldn’t have had to do it alone, I’m sorry.”

Sadie drew back and looked him dead in the eye, “Sorry for not being here or sorry for letting him die on your watch?”

“Everything,” Draco said, his eyes searching hers, “I’m sorry for all of it.”

Sadie swallowed and took a step back, “Is this how it felt when Pansy died?”

“No, this is worse,” Draco said, sitting down by the fire and trying desperately not to look at a picture of himself and Theo on his wedding day which hung just to the right of it.

“Does it ever stop hurting?” Sadie asked. She sounded broken and lost, and he didn’t know how she would cope without her husband.

“No,” Draco said, resting his head in his hands, “You just make room for it.”

Sadie sat down next to him and leant against him. Draco tentatively put an arm around her, but she didn’t shrug it off.

“I don’t hate you.”

Draco said nothing.

“I’m sorry for punching you.”

“I deserved it,” Draco said simply. He took Sadie’s hand, “But we’ll get through this together, I promise you, Sadie.”

Sadie nodded half-heartedly, and they fell silent once more as both of their eyes were drawn to the pictures on the wall that they had so desperately been trying to avoid looking at.

* * *

“Are you okay?”

“Theo’s dead,” Daphne said as she lay on the sofa, “So no, Lil, I’m not okay.”

Lilly pressed her wand against Daphne’s stomach and said, “Well, listen to this for a minute and calm down because I don’t like how high your blood pressure is.”

The sound of a baby’s heartbeat filled the room and Daphne took a steadying breath.

“Thanks for taking Teddy to school today.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Lilly said as she did the rest of Daphne’s medical checks, “Harry and Neville are going to be working overtime until they catch the bastards who did this to Theo so if you need any help getting Teddy to or from school, just let me know.”

“I will,” Daphne promised, “Is everything okay?”

“Apart from your blood pressure, yeah,” Lilly said, smiling at her best friend, “I’m satisfied that the little one is doing okay. You reckon you know what it is yet?”

“I’m sure it’s another girl,” Daphne admitted, “Harry says he doesn’t mind, but I don’t know if I believe him.”

“He has his heirs in Teddy and Al,” Lilly said with a smile, “I think he’d be delighted with two baby girls.”

Daphne nodded and pushed herself up into a sitting position. Lilly ended the charm that was projecting the heartbeat and said, “Now, the only thing I will say is that he or she is pretty low down for a due date of the 31st of August. The head is engaged, and if we’re going on how fast things happened with Andie, this is going to be a quick birth too so no big shocks, okay? And as soon as you feel a twinge, floo me. I don’t care how many times you wake me up for Braxton hicks. I don’t want my last god-baby born on a bathroom floor.”

Daphne chuckled, “I kind of like it when you go into full Healer mode, you know? You’re very authoritative.”

Lilly shot her an amused look, “Shut up.”

Daphne smiled, “Stay for a cup of tea while the kids have their nap?”

Lilly glanced at the clock, “Yeah, I’ve got time for a cup before my shift starts.”

* * *

“There are no fucking leads!” Harry snapped, throwing the file down on the desk, “Nothing Neville!”

Neville’s head was resting on the desk.

“Guys,” John shouted, “You need to be objective.”

“Objective?” Harry asked in disbelief, “Sorry sir, but he killed Theo. Are any of us objective?”

“Kid has a point,” Aiden piped up.

“It’s his funeral tomorrow,” Neville said, “And we have no leads. We can’t even tell his widow that she’ll get justice.”

“We’re doing all we can, but with the perp blowing himself up, there’s not much to go on,” John agreed, leaning back in his chair, “And I wanted to have something solid before Friday.”

“Why?” Harry asked, looking up in surprise, “What’s happening on Friday?”

“Draco’s coming back,” John answered, “And I need to find a new partner for him. He can’t work on his own…I’ve got an idea, but I’ll have to discuss it with Sumner.”

“Good luck with that because he won’t want another partner,” Harry said quietly, “He won’t want to work without anyone apart from Theo.”

“I know,” John said, tapping his fingers against the desk.

“And I don’t blame him,” Harry added, “If it was…nobody could replace Neville.”

“But one day, someone might have to,” Neville said, patting Harry on the shoulder, “We all knew that the job was dangerous when we joined up. We just didn’t expect it to happen to any of us.”

“You never do until it happens,” John said.

Aiden nodded and gestured at his burned face, “He’s right.”

They all fell silent once more as they perused file after file, searching for anyone who had a link to the perp who had blown himself up in the Knockturn Alley attack.

* * *

After her conversation with Draco, Sadie unlocked the basement door but kept the front door and the fireplaces warded. She planned the funeral with blunt, cold precision. She acted as though she was fine, to cover up how _not fine_ she was.

Draco was just as bad, throwing himself into the funeral preparation to avoid the truth. Hermione tried to keep them both afloat while keeping her head above water. Daphne had commented that she had the hardest job out of the three of them.

All hell broke loose the day before the funeral when Draco asked what type of wood the coffin should be made from.

“Who cares?” Sadie asked coldly.

“Well, the funeral director needs a decision-”

“Who fucking cares?” Sadie snapped, “There’s no body! Why do we even have a coffin? It’s empty Draco. It’s fucking empty!”

Hermione grabbed Sadie before she could start throwing ornaments around the drawing-room. She kept shouting the same thing over and over again.

“Sadie!” Hermione snapped, slapping her friend across the face.

Sadie gasped sharply and glared at Hermione, “You’re hysterical. You need to talk to someone before the funeral.”

“No, I-”

“You do, Sadie,” Hermione said firmly, “You do.”

Sadie swallowed and shook her head, unable to say anything more.

Hermione drew her in for a hug and looked at Draco with concern. He just shook his head, unsure what more they could do for Sadie.

* * *

“Do you know? I can’t remember the last time we kissed…the last time he picked the twins up and threw them around the room…the last time he shot me that boyish grin,” Tears stung in Sadie’s eyes, “I always said I hated that grin but I…I never realised how much I would miss it until it was gone.”

She swallowed, “Then there’s the last time he told me he loved me. I think it might have been the morning that he died, but I can’t remember. I can’t remember it because the thing is…you never think that the last time is the last time. You think there will be more. You think you have forever, but you don’t.”

Sadie’s voice grew weaker, “I thought Theo and I were forever, but I was wrong because he’s…he’s dead. Theo died, he died last week, Theo is dead.”

A sad smile, a sympathetic round of applause.

“Acceptance is the first step Sadie,” A kind voice said, but the tears blurred out all of the faces.

_One_ week. It had taken her one week to accept what everyone else was saying. Her husband was dead; he was never coming back.

It had been one whole, miserable week.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	3. The Prayers Have Been Prayed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title comes from the song:  
> The Bullet by Carrie Underwood

The funeral was awful. It was a full state funeral, all of the serving Aurors were there, and several retired Aurors had shown up in their old formal uniform to show their respect.

Theo’s empty coffin was being laid to rest in the mausoleum at Nott Manor. As such, the funeral procession began at the end of the country lane that led up to the Manor, in the middle of the Wiltshire woodland.

The coffin had a British flag atop it and the brass emblem of the Auror department attached to the top. All of the Aurors were in their formal uniform, which was reserved for funerals or ceremonial occasions. Most of the younger Aurors had never had to wear it, but it still sat in the back of their wardrobes for when such a day came.

The formal uniform consisted of black trousers, a black shirt, a grey vest, black leather boots and a grand red and gold full-length cloak. Draco, Harry, Neville, Rob, Blanche and Ophelia carried the coffin, and Sadie walked behind them, holding Almina’s hand. Hermione walked by her side with Charlus. Behind them were Salvadora and Lacey, the latter of whom was in floods of tears already.

Lacey was about to go into her third year at Hogwarts. Theo had been so proud when she had been sorted into Ravenclaw. He had sent her a howler telling her how pleased he was and she had been mortified until a boy who had been sorted into Ravenclaw a few minutes after her said that he sympathised because his dad was an embarrassment too. Lacey had shaken her head and said that it had been her brother, not her dad. That boy was called Jackson Sheppard, and they had since become best friends.

The rest of the Auror department followed the coffin up the path. Sumner and Sheppard walked in front, and every department marched behind them in their formal dress. It was quite a sight to behold, and Harry was sure that the press would manage to get a few sneaky photographs somehow.

The funeral itself was a blur. They all stood in the grounds of Nott Manor while a priest said his piece, ashes to ashes, dust to dust and all that. Then Draco had to give his eulogy, and it broke more hearts than Sadie’s.

He stood in front of the mausoleum with tears already stinging at his eyes.

“I have been thinking a lot about what to say today,” Draco said, his voice cracking, “Because what can you possibly say on a day like today? How do you sum up a whole life in a few miserable minutes? You can’t. Especially not when someone has lived as much as Theo did in his 25 years on earth.”

Sadie was trying to hold it together for the kids, but tears were rolling down her cheeks. Hermione grabbed her best friends hand. Daphne and Lilly stood on the other side of the mausoleum from the Aurors, but Harry and Neville were both longing to have their wives by their sides.

“As Auror Nott…he gave everything that he had to this department,” Draco said, his voice quivered briefly, “He would have died for any of us, and I think we all know that.”

There was a general nod around the Auror contingent of the room.

“As Theo, he gave even more to those he loved outside it,” Draco said, his eyes meeting Sadie’s.

She refused to meet his eye as tears rolled down her cheeks.

“To me, Theo was more than an Auror partner,” Draco said. He cleared his throat, “He was my best friend. We didn’t just work well together because we thought similarly. We really understood each other, we could almost always predict the others next move, and it’s so rare to meet someone who connects with you that way.”

He met Hermione’s eye, “Someone who makes you want to face your fears, head-on, eyes open.”

Hermione tried to smile sympathetically at him, but it came out as more of a grimace.

“And it’s so hard to say goodbye to them when they go,” Draco finished. His hands shook as he rested them by his side, “Because in the end, when you lose somebody…every candle, every prayer is not going to make up for the fact that the only thing that you have left is a hole in your life where that somebody that you cared about used to be.”

Any dry eyes were dry no longer. Draco took a step back, “So Theo wouldn’t have wanted us to light a candle or say a prayer for him. He wouldn’t want us to say goodbye because he didn’t believe in goodbyes. He always believed that there was something more beyond this plane of existence.”

Tears rolled down Draco’s cheeks, but he didn’t raise his hand to wipe them away, “So this isn’t goodbye, it’s see you later.”

He looked at the photograph of Theo that stood in front of the mausoleum and choked out the words, “See you later, Theo.”

Draco’s words were echoed around the graveyard, and Theo’s coffin was lowered into the mausoleum. Hermione let go of Sadie’s hand and stepped forward to pull Draco into a hug.

“You got through it, love,” Hermione whispered, holding him tightly.

“It was the worst thing I’ve ever had to do.”

“But you got through it,” Hermione said, kissing him on the cheek, “You got through it.”

* * *

Sadie stayed in the mausoleum after everyone else had moved to Nott Manor for the wake. She hadn’t been able to face having it at number 11, so Salvadora had offered. It made sense anyway; Nott Manor was larger and so many Aurors had turned out to show their respect.

Hermione had left Elladora and Caspian with her parents. Just as Harry and Daphne had left Teddy, Alastor and Andrea with Molly. The only children who were here were the twins, and that was because Sadie didn’t think it was right for them to miss their fathers funeral.

When Hermione had offered to take Almina and Charlus up to the house, Sadie had simply nodded. She had barely spoken since the funeral began and after Draco’s eulogy, she wasn’t sure that she was capable of speech.

Sadie sat down on a bench and looked at Theo’s name on the family memorial.

**_Almina Aphrodite Nott_ **

**_Born: 13 th August 1962._ **

**_Died: 28 th November 1982_ **

****

**_Alfred Theophilius Nott_ **

**_Born: 23 rd July 1959_ **

**_Died: 2 nd May 1998_ **

****

**_Theodore Roosevelt Nott (VIIII)_ **

**_Born: 16 th June 1980_ **

**_Died: 10 th August 2005_ **

****

“It’s funny,” Sadie whispered, looking at his name on the stone, “Because I can’t even remember the very first time that I heard your name. How do you just not remember something that made such a big difference in your life?”

She looked down at her hands. They shook uncontrollably, and she jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“You can’t sit here and talk to an empty coffin, Sadie.”

Sadie swallowed and shut her eyes.

“He wrote this,” Draco said, pressing a letter into her hands, “When we got promoted to Vice, and the stakes got that bit higher.”

Sadie looked at the parchment but made no move to open it.

“He gave it to me,” Draco said in a whisper, “And asked me to give it to you at his funeral if he ever died on the job.”

Sadie’s tears dripped down onto the envelope.

“I don’t know what it says, I swear,” Draco said, sitting down next to her on the bench.

“I…I can’t.”

Sadie shoved the letter back into Draco’s hands, “Could you…?”

Draco opened the envelope and pulled out a short letter, penned in Theo’s neat, curly writing. He cleared his throat and blinked away a couple of stray tears then began to read,

“ _If Draco followed my instructions then I’m sorry because I know today is probably the worst day of your life._

_I just need to tell you that you are, by far, the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. If you are reading this, then I died, and I know that must hurt like hell. But I need you to know that I died knowing that I was loved and not just by anyone, but by you, Sadie Cauldwell.”_

Draco had to pause to wipe his eyes before he could continue reading. Sadie’s head was resting on her legs, and she was crying quietly.

_“You are the love of my life, and you have been from the minute I laid eyes on you, back when I was a scrawny little 11-year old kid._

_I love you, Sadie.”_

Draco folded the letter back up silently and slid it into the envelope. He slipped it into Sadie’s bag, and she grabbed his hand. They didn’t say anything, but they sat there for a good five minutes staring at the name carved into the stone before them.

* * *

Sadie avoided as many people as possible at the wake, but she still had to nod and thank several people when they passed on their condolences. She lasted for around an hour before she decided to escape. Draco saw her slip out, but he had no idea where she might have gone.

However, he did know all of Theo’s old haunts in the Manor, and he expected that he had taken Sadie to one or two of them. Surely enough, he found her in the summer house.

“Are you smoking?”

“Don’t be judgemental,” Sadie remarked irritably, “You and Theo started this bad habit.”

She held the packet out to him.

“I know we did, but I didn’t realise it had stuck,” Draco admitted as he took a cigarette from the packet and lit it with a click of his fingers.

“I mean we’re going back to what…sixth year?” Draco asked as he took an appreciate drag.

Sadie nodded and did the same, leaning back on the comfortable old sofa that had been out here for years, “Theo and I still smoke every time we have a drink.”

“How did I not know that about you?”

“We don’t all know everything about each other,” Sadie said simply, “Lilly would kill me if she knew.”

“Ah like Lilly can judge with some of the stuff Daphne gets her into,” Draco said offhandedly, sitting down next to her on the moth-eaten sofa.

Sadie didn’t say anything, so Draco asked, “What are you doing out here anyway?”

“The same as you probably,” Sadie remarked, “Escaping from everyone else.”

Draco nodded. He looked around the summerhouse, “I spent the best part of a summer in here…back when Theo was trying to protect me from the dark mark.”

“I know you did,” Sadie said, “He would have done pretty much anything for you.”

“And you,” Draco said.

“Maybe even for Hermione,” Sadie said, staring straight ahead at the foreboding house in the distance.

“Maybe,” Draco agreed. He put out his cigarette and sighed, “I loved him so much, you know?”

“I know,” Sadie said. She put her cigarette out too, “I loved him just as much. Once upon a time, I’d have said I loved him more but not now. What we both felt for him…it’s different but it’s equal. Neither of us has lost more than the other.”

“Don’t belittle yourself, Sadie,” Draco said, turning to look at her, “He was never mine but losing him broke my heart all the same. He _was_ yours. He was always _yours._ He was the father of your kids; _of course,_ he was more to you.”

“Then why can’t I feel it?” Sadie asked quietly, “Why doesn’t it feel like a cord has been cut or like a part of me is missing? Why does it feel like he might still walk through that door right now?”

“Because you haven’t come to terms with it yet,” Draco answered, “And you won’t, not straight away. It takes time to accept that someone who you loved that much is gone…ripeped from your life…forever.”

Sadie turned her head to look at Draco, “Do you think we’ll ever be okay without him?”

“I don’t think we’ll ever be the same,” Draco said honestly, “But I think one day, we might be okay.”

Sadie nodded and then, without any warning, she kissed him. Draco was alarmed; it had come entirely out of the blue while they were discussing how much they both loved Theo. He was about to pull back and ask her what she was doing when she wrapped her arms around his neck.

At that point, the summer house door opened and Draco managed to pry himself away from Sadie.

“What…the…fuck…” A cold voice said.

They both turned to the doorway and saw Hermione, looking angrier than either of them had ever seen her.

“This is what we’ve become?” Hermione asked coldly, “Liars and cheaters who go behind each other's backs? This relationship has never been like that. From the beginning, it has always been open and honest. Are we really going to let this tear us apart now?”

“Theo is dead, Hermione,” Sadie said quietly, “It’s already in fucking pieces.”

“So this is the solution?” Hermione laughed humourlessly, “Theo dies, so the two people who loved him most make each other feel better? Well, what about me? Do you all forget that I’m a part of this? Because I am, whether you acknowledge that or not, and I loved Theo too!”

“We weren’t comforting each other-” Draco began to say.

At the same time, Sadie said, “It’s not like we were pushing you out on purpose-”

Hermione scoffed, “No, you were just dealing with his death in your own selfish ways.”

“Selfish?” They both asked loudly.

“Yes, selfish,” Hermione hissed in response. She looked a little demented, neither of them had ever seen her like this before.

“What’s going on here?”

“Oh and the golden boy wades in to save the fucking day!” Hermione snapped sarcastically, spinning on her heel to glare at him, “Harry Potter with his perfect wife and his perfect children and his _perfect_ little life!”

“What-” Harry began.

“Hermione, what’s going on?” Daphne asked from Harry’s side, “I’ve never seen you like this before.”

“I have,” Harry said, “Just once.”

He was, of course, thinking back to the war. This was precisely how Hermione had reacted when Ron came back, and she was under just as much emotional stress now as she had been back then.

“What’s going on?” Hermione laughed in that high-pitched, false manner once more, “Why don’t you ask Draco and Sadie?”

Daphne looked at Draco and Sadie pointedly.

“Sadie kissed me,” Draco muttered.

“Right, and you did so much to push her away,” Hermione remarked irritably.

“For the love of Godric!” Daphne snapped, “It’s your husband's wake, Sadie!”

“You think I don’t know that?” Sadie asked tearfully.

“It also doesn’t give you the right to kiss my husband!” Hermione cried.

Daphne grimaced and gripped her side; it didn’t go unnoticed by Harry, “Grow up, all of you!”

The loud shout temporarily silenced them all because Daphne didn’t shout. She raised her voice to her children once in a blue moon, and she didn’t roar at her friends, “Theo is gone, he’s dead, and he’s not coming back! Yes, you three feel that more than most but we’re all struggling through too! He was my cousin; he was Harry and Neville’s friend. We all miss him and-” she gasped, “- and acting like children is going to rip all of us apart, not just you three but all of us. Do you really think that’s what Theo would have wanted?”

They fell silent, out of guilt more than anything else and Harry said, “Daphne, are you-”

“Yes, Harry, I’m in labour,” Daphne said, glaring at the three people she deemed at fault, “Can you-”

Harry pressed a button on his wrist, “Lilly, now.”

“- shout Lilly,” Daphne finished.

“I tagged her into the comms bracelet when you got close to your due date,” Harry said by way of explanation.

Daphne nodded, and Lilly dashed out of the house a few seconds later, “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine but-”

“Your labours are quick, I know,” Lilly said, “We need to get you back to Potter Manor. I doubt there’s much point in going to St. Mungos since you didn’t make it there with Andie.”

Daphne nodded and gripped Lilly tightly.

“You go, I’ll follow as soon as I can,” Harry said to Lilly.

Lilly nodded and led Daphne up the path. Harry took a step into the summer house and shut the door behind him. Draco looked more worried than Hermione and Sadie at this course of action because he knew what happened to perps when Harry walked into an interrogation room with that look on his face and shut the door behind him.

Harry then used a locking charm on the door that even Hermione didn’t recognise and Draco visibly swallowed.

“Daphne is right,” Harry said simply, “You do need to grow up.”

“Harry, she-”

“I know what she did, Hermione,” Harry said, “But she has just lost her husband, and Draco is in as much pain as she is. I’m not saying that makes it okay because it doesn’t, but at the same time, you have to put yourself in their shoes.”

Hermione shook her head, “There were four of us in that relationship, Harry, not three of us. Nobody seems to remember that.”

“We do!” Sadie said, “It’s just that you’ve been coping better than anyone else.”

“Not because I didn’t love him, but because I have to!” Hermione exclaimed, “I have a toddler and a newborn baby who need constant attention. I can’t just stop and cry and wallow. I can’t lock everyone out, and I can’t lie in a hospital bed for 24 hours not saying a word to anyone! I don’t get a chance to stop and grieve because they need me!”

“My kids need me too, they have lost their father-”

“It’s not a competition!” Harry bellowed.

The summer house fell silent, “You all love Theo, and you have all lost him. You shouldn’t be fighting about it! _You_ shouldn’t be kissing his best friend.”

Sadie looked down guiltily.

“ _You_ shouldn’t be letting that happen,” Harry said, pointing at Draco.

“ _You_ shouldn’t be sniping at them because you feel like they are pushing you out,” Harry said to Hermione.

“What you should all be doing is helping each other through this. Sadie, you should be keeping the door between the houses unlocked. Hermione, you should be making sure that everyone eats and Draco, you should be helping get the kids through this, and I don’t just mean the twins by the way. You’re right; it was a four-way; it was always a bloody four-way. This doesn’t just affect Sadie, Mina and Charlie, it affects all of you, Ella and Cas too.”

The three of them looked quite crestfallen as Harry’s words sank in.

“You got through everything else together as a foursome, now you’re going to have to get through this as a threesome,” Harry said with a note of finality.

“You’re right,” Sadie whispered, “I’m sorry Draco. I just…I don’t know what I thought.”

“I don’t know what you thought either,” Draco admitted.

Hermione looked at them both for a moment, trying to gauge how genuine they were.

“I’m sorry for flying off the handle,” She said eventually, “I’ve just been doing so much more with the kids since Theo died and I’m tired and upset and….”

Draco and Sadie both nodded their understanding.

“Are you all good?” Harry asked, reaching for the door handle.

“I think we are, yeah,” Draco said.

Sadie nodded, and Hermione said, “Yeah, I think we will be.”

Harry unlocked the door.

“Good because I’m missing the birth of my last kid to sort this shit out,” Harry said irritably. He yanked open the door, “And if it turns out that I’ve missed the birth of both of my kids, then I might not be able to forgive you three, _ever_.”

Harry left the summerhouse and dashed through the house, politely telling at least three people that he needed to leave and brushing them off as nicely as he could. Once he got through the house, he jogged down the path and left the grounds via the grand, iron-wrought gates.

He spun on his heel and apparated to Potter Manor. Once he placed his hand on the gate, it swung open for him, and he jogged up the long path to the front door. Like the gate, it opened the moment he touched it.

Harry paused to catch his breath in the entrance hall, then he heard it, a sharp cry.

“Fuck,” Harry muttered. He darted up the stairs into their bedroom and froze in the doorway when he saw Daphne lying in bed with a tiny baby on her chest, covered in an old blanket of Teddy’s.

“I missed this one too,” Harry said, utterly crestfallen.

“Just,” Lilly said, looking up at him, “Did you hear that cry?”

Harry nodded.

“That was the first cry, and you’re here in time to sever the cord this time,” Lilly said, “I’ll hold your hand to keep it steady if you like?”

Harry shook his head, “You taught me a long time ago that my hands only shake when I think I can’t do something. I know that I can do this.”

Lilly smiled and said, “Sever the cord, just here.”

Harry did so carefully, and Lilly said, “Okay Daph, I just need to deliver the placenta. Want me to use-”

“Yeah use magic and make it quick,” Daphne said.

Lilly chuckled and shot Harry an amused look, “Childbirth is anything but glamourous.”

Daphne winced in pain at whatever Lilly did under the covers, then Lilly said, “Alright, all done.”

She sighed in relief and adjusted herself in bed. Lilly cast a couple of cleaning charms and walked towards the bathroom, “It’s probably a good thing you weren’t here for this one, Harry. She’s bigger than Andrea; Daphne wasn’t anywhere near as dignified.”

“I’d like to see you being dignified while you’re pushing out a 10-pound baby,” Daphne said in jest, but it was weak.

“She?” Harry asked.

Lilly nodded, “You have another daughter.”

“And I think I know what we ought to name her,” Daphne said, her eyes meeting Harry’s.

“Yeah?” Harry asked, sitting down next to her on the bed and looking at the baby girl in her arms who was blinking rapidly and looking up at her mothers face.

Daphne looked exhausted. Her hair was damp and matted; her cheeks were red and blotchy. Her eyes were heavily lidded, but she was still beautiful to Harry. He admired her all the more for bringing his two daughters into the world.

“I know I have a rule against naming our kids after dead people,” Daphne said, “But as long as the name is different, I don’t mind if it honours someone.”

Harry frowned, “So what were you thinking?”

“Theodora,” Daphne said.

“Theodora?” Harry echoed.

“I tried to talk her out of it too,” Lilly called from the bathroom where she was washing her hands.

“It can be shortened to Thea,” Daphne reasoned, “Or Dora.”

Harry nodded, “I like Thea…”

“She kind of looks like a Thea,” Daphne said, looking down at the baby girl.

“Andie and Thea,” Harry said with a nod.

“Theodora Tracey Potter has a nice ring to it,” Lilly said from the bathroom doorway, “Don’t you think?”

Daphne smiled and patted the bed next to her, “Come here.”

Lilly sat down on Daphne’s other side and looked at the baby in her arms.

“I think you ought to get first hold,” Daphne said.

“I don’t need first hold,” Lilly said, smiling over at Harry, “I delivered her.”

Harry took the baby from Daphne and cradled her, “Welcome to the world, Theodora.”

“He’ll be killing himself laughing up in heaven when he realises that you, the person who has always pretended to hate him, has named her child after him,” Lilly pointed out.

“Well someone had to, and it’s not like anyone else will be having kids any time soon,” Daphne pointed out.

Lilly smiled sadly, “Not by giving birth to them, anyway,” she agreed.

“Sorry Lil, I didn’t mean-”

“You’re exhausted, don’t worry,” Lilly said, kissing Daphne on the forehead, “And you stink. I’m going to have to try and get you in the shower once this one has had a feed.”

Daphne just nodded.

“Have you and Neville given up then?” Harry asked.

Before Lilly could answer a knock sounded at the door. Lilly called, “You can come in, Nev.”

The door opened, and Neville stepped in, “Hey, I followed Harry back from Nott Manor, but I kept my distance. Wanted to give him a chance to meet the baby first.”

“Well, she’s here,” Harry said, “And I missed her birth too.”

“You’ll just have to have another one then,” Neville joked.

Daphne shook her head, “No, no more. I have my four, and I’m done.”

“Come and meet her,” Harry said, patting the bed.

Neville sat down carefully and looked into the bundle of blankets, “She’s huge compared to Andrea.”

“Tell me about it,” Daphne winced.

“You’ll need a bit more bed rest this time. I know you bounced right back after Andie, but she was tiny in comparison,” Lilly said to her friend.

“I know,” Daphne yawned.

“Has she got a name?” Neville asked as he took the baby from Harry.

Harry nodded, “She’s called Theodora.”

“Thea, for short,” Daphne clarified.

Neville smiled, “Fitting…since she was born on the day of his funeral.”

“Yeah,” Harry said with a frown.

“For every death, there is a birth,” Neville said softly, “New life replacing old.”

Harry nodded and looked down at his daughter once more.

“Godparents for a fourth time,” Neville said, smiling up at Lilly.

“I’m sorry that you can’t have this,” Daphne said, grabbing Lilly’s hand.

Harry frowned so Neville clarified, “Lilly’s pregnancy test after our last round of IVF came back negative. The deal was that if it didn’t work, we would adopt.”

“Lessen the strain on Lupin House,” Lilly joked with a sad smile.

Harry sighed and put an arm around his best friend, “I’m sorry Nev, I know how shitty that feels. We were there before Daphne fell pregnant with Andrea.”

Neville shrugged and said, “We’ll still have kids, they just won’t have our blood. But you guys know fine well that it doesn’t make a difference.”

“It doesn’t,” Daphne agreed, “I love all four of my kids equally, regardless of how they came into my life.”

“I love your kids to bits too,” Lilly admitted with a soft smile.

“You’ve turned the girl who didn’t like kids into a wannabe paediatric healer,” Neville joked.

Lilly rolled her eyes, “Not true; I love being a trauma healer.”

“And we love you being one,” Harry said honestly, “Rob and I would have died if it hadn’t been for you getting us to St Mungo’s after the Knockturn Alley attack.”

“Let’s not talk about that,” Daphne said, “Not on a day like today when we should all just be thankful.”

The other three nodded, and they fell silent as Theodora mumbled softly in her sleep.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	4. What If I Never Get Closure?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title comes from the song:  
> What If I Never Get Over You? by Lady A

“Well, what have we got here? The great Assistant Head Auror himself, down in CPS!”

John rolled his eyes and leant against Rob’s desk, “Finished?”

“Yeah. You here to see your wife? Cause she’s on the lunch run.”

“I know,” John said. He looked Rob in the eye, “I’m here to talk to you.”

“Oh fuck,” Rob joked, “What have I done?”

John pulled a chair out and sat down opposite his best friend, “I need a favour.”

“Of course you do. Why else would you have dragged yourself down to CPS?” Rob asked calmly.

John sighed and leant back in his chair, “I need you to work with Draco.”

“No,” Rob said with a shake of his head, “Absolutely not.”

“Rob,” John said, his voice strained, “He needs a partner.”

“There are a lot of other folks to choose from,” Rob pointed out, “But not me. I like CPS; I don’t want to leave. I’ll work here till I retire, you know that’s my plan.”

“I know, but right now, I need you to leave CPS in Liz’s capable hands for a couple of weeks,” John said, “It’s temporary while I find a proper partner for him but…he’s going to be a bit unstable and I need someone I trust to keep an eye on him.”

Rob sighed and leant back to survey John.

“You were his first boss,” John continued, “He worked at CPS for three years, he respects you, and you know him. I need you to keep an eye on him. If he’s not safe to be back on the job, I have to know.”

Rob nodded, “Right.”

“So you’ll do it?”

“Yeah, but just until you find someone else,” Rob said, pointing at John, “I’m not a young man anymore. I don’t have the same dreams of running around with sunglasses blowing shit up.”

John grinned and got to his feet, “You’re my saviour, I fucking love you.”

Rob snorted, “Pay me back in beer.”

“Deal,” John said, “Oh, and you might need these.”

He threw something at Rob then disappeared. Rob looked down and scoffed when he realised it was a pair of old-fashioned tortoiseshell sunglasses.

“Prick!” He yelled after his best friend.

* * *

When Draco walked back into the Auror department on Friday morning, everyone stared. He rolled his eyes at the silence that fell. Heads peered out of doors all the way down the corridor.

“Yeah, my Auror partner died!” Draco snapped, “Why are you all looking at me like I’m about to burst into tears?”

Silence rang through the department.

“All I’m going to do is find the bastards who did this to Theo and kill every single fucking one of them!” Draco retorted, “So you can quit looking at me like I’m a china doll.”

A door behind him opened, and John’s voice said, “I thought I heard your dulcet tones. Come on in, Black.”

Draco turned around and walked into his office without another word.

“Sit,” John said.

Draco sat down opposite John and looked at him expectantly.

“I know you don’t want to hear this,” John began, “But you need to work with someone.”

“No,” Draco said tersely.

“Draco, it’s not a choice,” John declared firmly, “You work with someone, or you don’t work at all. It’s not safe to send you out alone.”

Draco didn’t look very happy about it, but he didn’t argue it either.

“Okay?” John said.

Draco nodded testily, “As long as it’s not an insufferable idiot like Stone.”

“You don’t class me as an insufferable idiot, do you, pretty boy?”

Draco rolled his eyes and turned around, “Really, Rob?”

“Would you work with anyone else apart from Harry and Neville?” John questioned.

“Probably not,” Draco conceded.

“So Rob it is then,” John remarked, “It’s a temporary thing until I can come up with a permanent solution because Wolfie doesn’t want to leave his cushy desk job at CPS.”

“It’s not a cushy desk job!” Rob objected.

“Oh, it is,” John said, shooting his friend an amused look.

Draco got to his feet, “Are we done then?”

“Yeah,” John said, “But until you’re back on your feet, mentally that is, Rob’s going to be keeping an eye on you. He’s not spying on you, alright? He’s just looking out for you.”

“I get it,” Draco said irritably.

“Alright, dismissed then,” John said, shooting Rob an apologetic look. He had known that Draco was going to be touchy, but he hadn’t realised quite how much.

Rob followed Draco out of the office and into the Vice bullpen silently. When they walked in, two sets of eyes fell on them as silence reigned in the bullpen.

“Yeah, his partner died,” Rob said, “You gonna look at him like an alien for that? We’ve all been through it. Mitch, you were off on sick for a month after your first partner died on the job.”

“Yeah,” Cameron agreed. He sat down on the edge of his desk, “Yeah, I’m still pretty haunted by what happened to Bryce.”

“Wood, luckily you haven’t had to go through that,” Rob said to Oliver, “And I never really had a partner for long enough to get attached to them, but I saw a lot of friends die during the war. We all know what it feels like kid, and it’s why everyone is looking at you like you’re gonna break because most of us do.”

Cameron bent his head, “Yeah, Wolfie is right. Most of us get attached to our partners, too attached, and when we lose them…. It feels like we’re losing a part of ourself.”

“Well it doesn’t matter how it feels,” Draco said curtly, “Theo’s gone, and I can’t bring him back. The only thing I can do is find the people responsible for killing him, so that’s what I’m going to do.”

Cameron opened his mouth, but behind Draco’s back, Rob shook his head and waved his hand in front of his neck to signal Cameron to shut up.

“Right then,” Cameron said, “Let me catch you up to speed on what you’ve missed over the last week…”

* * *

“Babe, hurry up! We can’t be late; we’re opening up the gala!”

“I’m on my way down!”

Daphne stepped into the entrance hall, and Harry smiled, “Are you sure you’re okay to do this?”

“I’m fine,” Daphne promised him, “A week of bed rest has done wonders. I can’t thank Lilly enough for managing to get Narcissa and Molly to help so much with the kids.”

Harry smiled at her, “You look amazing.”

“Oh, hardly, this is an old maternity dress,” Daphne scoffed.

The black dress wasn’t as fitted as those that she usually wore but all the same, she did not look like she had given birth a week ago.

“Mum looks great, doesn’t she Ted?”

“Yeah, sure,” Teddy replied.

Daphne shot Harry an amused look, “How did the kids settle for Nev and Lil?”

“Neville was running laps of the garden with Al and Andie when I left, and Lilly was yelling at him because she was trying to give Thea her bottle,” Harry said with a grin, “And she said to re-iterate that they really don’t mind having Thea even though she’s so young because they know how important it is that we both attend this gala.”

“Is that how she phrased it?” Daphne asked, raising an eyebrow at her husband.

“No,” Harry said, grinning at his wife as he grabbed Teddy’s hand and opened the front door, “It was more like, _You’ll never secure funding for the expansion without Daphne, so it’s a good thing I’m the world’s greatest godmother, isn’t it_?”

“She’s more like their aunt than their godmother,” Daphne said with a fond smile, “I know Astoria loves them to bits but she’s so busy with the business that she’s hardly ever in the country right now. I don’t know what I’d do without Lil.”

“I know, she’s too good for us,” Harry said with a grin, “Right Ted, ready for side-apparition?”

Teddy made a face, “Am I going to throw up again?”

“Hmm, when did you have dinner?” Daphne asked.

“Like an hour ago,” Teddy answered.

Daphne weighed this up, “Maybe.”

“I hate it.”

“I did too, buddy,” Harry said, “But when we get to Lupin House you’ll get to see Nina and Nick.”

Teddy’s eyes lit up at that, “Okay Dad, let’s go.”

Daphne chuckled, and they all apparated to the gates of Lupin House. The gates were permanently open and unlocked, but the building itself got locked up in the evenings.

They stepped into the entrance hall, and Harry smiled, as he always did when he stepped into Lupin House. It was such a warm place, and he was still proud of what they did here. There were letters pinned up all over the place from kids who had been raised here that had gone to Hogwarts. Some of them came back in the summer, and some of them stayed with the family of friends they had made at school, but the staff at Lupin House always vetted that person first.

“Alright, stranger!”

Harry would recognise that voice anywhere. He looked up and was immediately pulled into a hug by Rob, “How you doing, kid?”

“I’m alright,” Harry said simply, “Is Elizabeth here yet?”

“Nah, she’s running late. I think she’s having a bit of trouble getting Jack and Gray to agree to come,” Rob said with an amused smile, “They’re too cool for charity events now that they’re Hogwarts age.”

Harry chuckled. Lupin House and CPS worked very closely together these days, which was why Rob and Elizabeth were obliged to attend these galas every six months. Harry was used to it now, between galas for the charity, ministry balls and Greengrass Industries events.

The door opened once more, and Elizabeth and John stepped in with two teenage boys in tow. Jackson, their eldest, was a Ravenclaw who was about to go into his third year at Hogwarts. He looked like his mother with short, curly brown hair and dark brown eyes. Grayson would be going to Hogwarts for the first time in a few short weeks. He was his fathers double; he had Johns messy black hair and a permanent cheeky grin.

“Sorry, Jack decided that he was too cool for a charity event,” Elizabeth said, shooting Jackson an irritated look.

“Ah Nicks getting that way too,” Rob shrugged, “But I farmed him off on Nina, and he’s alright.”

“Nick and Nina are here?”

“Yeah kiddo, they’re out the back chucking garden gnomes around,” Rob said, ruffling Teddy’s hair

“On you go,” Harry said with a smile, “We’ll do the boring adult stuff and call you in when the food comes out.”

“Thanks, Dad!”

Jackson and Grayson escorted Teddy out to the back garden, and Daphne chuckled, “Those three are a force to be reckoned with. It’s a shame Teddy’s going to be a year below them in school.”

“Ah, I doubt that will stop them,” Rob said, “Congrats on baby number four by the way.”

Daphne smiled, “Thank you.”

“The name you chose is a beautiful tribute,” Elizabeth agreed.

“Yes, well…” Daphne said with a frown, “Theo was my cousin.”

Harry nodded, “If Nina is here, where is Howard?” he asked curiously.

“He was barking orders at house-elves when I last saw him,” Rob replied with a roll of his eyes, “I don’t know why you put up with him.”

“Because although he can be a bit prickly, he’s a bloody good politician, so he’s a good man to have on your side,” Harry said. He kissed Daphne on the cheek and said, “I’m going to see if I can find him. You’re my lucky charm tonight babe, get me that expansion.”

Daphne shot him an amused look, “You know I will.”

Harry grinned at her and dashed off downstairs.

Rob held out his arm, “Talking of damn good politicians, shall we Marchioness Potter?”

“Are you ever going to tire of calling me that to irritate me?” Daphne asked as she began to head upstairs to the common room with Rob.

“Nope,” Rob grinned.

John shook his head in amusement, and Elizabeth whispered, “It’s just nice to see them smiling. It’s been a difficult two weeks for everyone.”

John nodded his agreement, “Yes, it has been,” he agreed.

* * *

The remainder of the evening went the same way that every other Lupin House gala had done over the past few years. Daphne began the negotiations while Harry sat in a corner with the orphans and regaled them with exaggerated tales.

“And _then_ we flew out of the bank on the back of a dragon!”

There was an intake of breath, “No?”

“Did you really mister Potter?”

“He did!”

Harry saw Daphne beckoning him over, so he pushed himself to his feet, “Sorry kiddos but my wife wants me, and when you get older, you’ll understand why angry wives are scary. Hey, Jack, Joe!”

Two eleven-year-old boys turned to look at Harry. He smiled when he saw them, they were thriving, and that made him beyond happy. They had been the first kids that he and Rob had saved, the inspiration for Lupin House and all of the reforms that had been pushed through since then.

“Good luck with the sorting,” Harry said with a smile, “Promise you’ll write and let me know where you end up?”

“Yeah, Harry,” Jack grinned.

“Course we will,” Joe agreed.

“Brilliant,” Harry said, jogging over to his wife, “Sorry about that darling, you know I get too involved with the stories.”

“I know you do because this happens every year,” Daphne said with an amused smile, “I was just discussing the possibility of expansion with Howard.”

“Ah, yes,” Harry said thoughtfully, “We had put a lot of thought into that.”

“Is it required, though?” Howard asked, “We are not quite at full capacity.”

“I know, but when you break down the capacity, you see the struggle,” Harry said as he and Howard began to walk towards one of the windows together, “With the nursery being so small we can only take in three children under one at any given time, and this is occasionally an issue. I know the younger children are adopted faster, but there have been occasions when we have had four children and no space for them.”

“What do you suggest?” Howard asked.

“A third floor,” Harry said honestly, “Not across the whole building, just one wing.”

Howard nodded, “I’m listening.”

“I think it ought to have three bedrooms, a large bathroom and a small kitchenette,” Harry explained, “Two bedrooms for the children. One would operate as a nursery for very young babies; I would suggest children under six months. The second bedroom would be for children aged between six months and two years because after that point we can generally put them in a bottom bunk in a dormitory.”

“Yes,” Howard agreed, “And a third bedroom for the staff?”

“Yes, and it would have to be staff, _plural_ ,” Harry said, “We cannot operate with one nursery nurse. We need at least two live-in members of staff or four members on a rota.”

Howard looked out at the night sky, “It will be expensive.”

“I know,” Harry said, “And it needs to be put up quickly. We are running out of space.”

“Explaining this to the Wizengamot is not going to be easy,” Howard pointed out, “They will ask why we keep 16 spaces free for the children who attend Hogwarts.”

“And if you wish it, I will tell them that we keep those spaces free so that children have a safe place to come back to during their summers, preventing individuals like Tom Riddle rising to power,” Harry said calmly.

Howard sighed and nodded, “Leave it with me. By any luck, I can get approval by the end of the year and hopefully we can begin the building work after Christmas.”

“Thank you, Howard,” Harry said, raising his glass of wine.

Howard raised his too, and they both took a sip. Harry only drank wine these days, which had made him a bit of a snob about it. Daphne found it hilarious.

He caught her eye, and she smiled at him. The raising of glasses had been enough to tell her that a deal had been done between the two men.

“How is Nina?” Harry asked conversationally, “She seems happy?”

“Oh, she is always happy,” Howard said, smiling as he looked over at Nina. She was a beautiful little girl with platinum blonde, lightly curled hair and bright blue eyes. At the moment, she was whispering to Teddy, and he was laughing and pointing at Nick.

Harry smiled at the sight, “I am glad you decided to adopt her, even though you said that you wouldn’t.”

Howard nodded, “Well, Hannah is married now, so I thought it would be pertinent for Nina to become an Abbott, if not in name.”

“She chose to keep her name?” Harry asked.

Howard shot Harry an amused look, “Well, Harry Potter told her that it was a very cool name. Why would she want to change it?”

“Nina Frost,” Harry said with a smile, “It is a cool name. I have a feeling she’ll do great things one day.”

Howard chuckled, “Have you heard Hannah and Hamish’s happy news?”

“No?” Harry said.

Hannah had married Hamish MacDougall about a year earlier. Harry was fairly sure that it was an arranged marriage because Hamish was a Laird and Hannah was a Countess, but all the same, they seemed happy enough. Hannah and Lilly were both friendly with Hamish’s younger sister, Morag, who had shared a dorm with Lilly at Hogwarts. She was a nursery nurse, and a trained Healer so at the moment, she lived in Lupin House and cared for the infants there.

Howard smiled proudly, “They are expecting their first child in February.”

“Ah,” Harry said with a smile, “Making you a grandfather? Congratulations, Howard.”

“I am thrilled for her,” Howard said happily.

“Well,” Harry smiled, “Cheers to that.”

* * *

“That looked like it went well,” Daphne whispered.

“I think it did, but I’ll fill you in later,” Harry returned in a whisper.

He saw Nina dash across the entrance hall as everyone was leaving, “Hey! There’s my favourite Nina!”

Nina laughed, “Harry! I’m the only Nina that you know.”

“Even if you weren’t, you’d still be my favourite,” Harry said with a smile, “Did you have fun tonight?”

Nina nodded, “Uh-huh. You looked sad.”

“I looked sad?” Harry asked in surprise.

The blonde girl nodded again, “Yeah. You kept doing that sad thing that adults do. You were smiling, but your eyes were sad.”

“Oh Nina,” Harry said with a sigh, “You are wise beyond your years.”

Nina shrugged, “What made you sad?”

“I…I lost a friend,” Harry said honestly, “He died.”

“Like my parents?”

“Yeah, like your parents,” Harry said with a distant look in his eyes.

“But I thought that you saved everyone,” Nina said.

The comment broke Harry’s heart a little. He shook his head, “No…not everyone, Nina.”

She hugged him and said, “Uncle Howard says adults hug when they get sad.”

“Yeah, they sometimes do,” Harry said, hugging her back and smiling sadly at her, “But the sadness passes with time, and we feel happy again.”

“I hope you feel happy soon.”

“Me too.”

* * *

Nina’s comment had started something in Harry’s head. It had been innocent, the innocent comment of a child, but something was niggling at Harry now. Why couldn’t he have saved Theo? What had he missed? He knew there was something. The crime scene had been chaotic; the fire had been raging; he hadn’t been entirely in his own mind while he was gathering evidence.

It was a distinct possibility that he had missed something, but the harder he tried to work out what it was, the faster it slipped away from him.

“How was your charity do?”

Harry looked up at Neville, “Huh?”

“The charity gala at Lupin House?” Neville said, looking at Harry in amusement, “Did you drink too much wine last night?”

“No…my mind was just elsewhere,” Harry admitted, “But it was fine, yeah. Howard seemed pretty amicable, probably because of his good news.”

“His good news?”

“Yeah,” Harry said, flipping through a case file and reaching for his coffee, “Hannah’s pregnant.”

“Is she?”

Harry paused and looked up, “Uh, yeah. You remember that she married Hamish MacDougall about a year ago?”

“Yeah, I know. I saw it in the paper,” Neville said with a frown, “But I guess they didn’t have to try too hard for a baby. They’ve been married less than a year.”

“True,” Harry said, his eyes hovering on Neville’s, “Are you okay? I didn’t think you’d care to be honest. You and Lilly are so solid these days.”

“I don’t care,” Neville said, but Harry wasn’t entirely convinced.

Harry opened his mouth to ask if Neville was sure, but the taller man said, “What did you make of Justin’s report about the toxins found in Grant's bloodstream?”

“Yeah…looks like he was involved in the same smuggling ring as our last vic,” Harry said, glad for the change in subject.

“Vice are on it too, guys,” John assured them, “We’ll catch these guys.”

Harry and Neville just nodded silently.

* * *

“Daphne?”

Daphne glanced up, “Hey Nev. Did you come in via the vanishing cabinet?”

“Yeah, didn’t want to wake the kids up,” Neville admitted, “Are they out for the count?”

“Oh yeah, Harry had them flying around the garden for half an hour before bedtime,” Daphne said with a grin, “That always knocks them out, and Thea is the best sleeper yet.”

“That’s what you want with the last one, eh?” Neville said, smiling at her.

Daphne smiled back, but she could tell that something was wrong, “Do you want a cup of tea?”

“Yeah,” Neville said, “Harry’s out in the snake shed, right?”

“He is, but I can go and-”

“No, don’t go and get him,” Neville said quickly.

Daphne glanced over her shoulder at him in surprise as she set the kettle on to boil.

“I don’t want to talk to him about this,” Neville admitted, “I want to talk to you.”

“Okay,” Daphne said, she crossed her arms and looked at him, “What’s going on?”

Neville wrung his hands together, “Do you remember years ago, when you and Lilly had your first weekend in Paris?”

“Uh-huh,” Daphne said with an amused smile, “She made it rather memorable.”

Neville smiled weakly, “You remember how you saw a seer who showed you the future?”

“An alternate future,” Daphne corrected him.

“Yeah, but still…” Neville frowned, “I was with Hannah in that future, wasn’t I?”

“Yes, you were,” Daphne said.

“And we couldn’t have kids,” Neville said, looking up at Daphne.

She put a cup of tea in front of him, “Uh-huh. Where are you going with this, Neville Longbottom?”

“Well, now Hannah is pregnant,” Neville said, his expression was one of pure misery, “So I guess it’s me.”

“Neville,” Daphne said softly. She sat down across from him and took his hand, “You can’t think like that. It doesn’t matter whose fault it is.”

“It does,” Neville said, looking up at Daphne, “Because if she was with someone else, she could have a family.”

“But she doesn’t want anybody else,” Daphne said, resting her hand on top of his, “She wants you. Trust me; she would take a childless life with you and your greenhouse and your magical menagerie over a life with someone else and a brood of kids.”

Neville grabbed Daphne’s hand, “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Daphne said, “She loves you and you guys are going to find a way to have a family. You know how many kids need love and a home, you go to Lupin House often enough.”

Neville nodded and cleared his throat, “You’re right.”

“Of course I am,” Daphne said, pushing herself to her feet, “Drink your tea and go home. Tell Lilly you love her, hold her a little bit too tightly for a little bit too long. If what happened to Theo has taught us anything, it’s that life is too short.”

“Thank you,” Neville said, smiling sadly but genuinely at Daphne.

She kissed him on the cheek, “Goodnight, Nev.”

“Night, Daph,” Neville said, looking into the depths of his cup of tea.

* * *

“Potter!”

Harry spun on his heel. He had been about to step into the homicide bullpen when Sumner's voice had called him.

“Yes, sir?”

“A word,” Sumner said.

Harry made his way back along the corridor and stepped into Sumner’s office, “I know you’re busy here, but I could do with a favour.”

“Okay,” Harry said expectantly.

“Lorne had to call in sick today, and I need someone to work with Carter at the training centre,” Sumner said, “It’s selection tests today.”

“Right,” Harry said with a nod, “Yeah, I can do that. Do you need me to head over right now?”

Sumner nodded, “Yeah, are you good with that?”

“Fine with that, sir,” Harry said as he reached for the door handle, “Talk about full circle, eh?”

He heard Sumner laughing as he left the office.

* * *

Watching the Aurors go through their tests was pretty good fun. He got some amusement out of seeing the ones who had looked good on paper but were dreadful in practice. He got on well with Sam, and it was nice to see her again. They went through a ridiculous amount of coffee throughout the tests, and the box of doughnuts that Harry had bought on route to the training centre didn’t last very long.

The last candidate’s selection test sparked something in Harry though. His morality test was the same one that Harry had gotten when he was a trainee. It was the unbeatable test that _he_ had managed to beat.

Harry leant forward as the candidate worked out that there was a proximity charm on a stand full of spectators, and he thought back to his own selection test.

“Sam,” Harry said quietly.

Sam looked over at him, “Yeah?”

“Proximity charms have a three-second delay,” Harry said.

Sam frowned, “Yes. What’s your point?”

“There’s a three-second delay between the charm activating and the explosion,” Harry said quickly, “So there’s a chance that Theo is alive.”

Sam’s face fell, “Harry, don’t do this to yourself. Even those who can apparate very quickly, take five seconds.”

“Yes, but portkeys are instant!” Harry said, “This morality test is the one I got, remember?”

“Remember you cheating the system? Yes,” Sam remarked, “Of course I do.”

“I used a portkey,” Harry said, “The stand disappeared, and the proximity charm went off in mid-air.”

“Harry,” Sam said, biting her lip, “That was a simulated morality test. Theo dying…that was real life. You’re clutching at straws here.”

“But I’m right,” Harry said, “Aren’t I?”

“If the perp had a portkey on him then yes, theoretically he and Theo could have escaped,” Sam answered evasively, “But there was DNA evidence, there was blood.”

“Only the blood matched Theo’s genetic profile,” Harry pointed out, “The body parts didn’t, we think they belonged to the perp. What if Theo grabbed the portkey off of him?”

“Harry,” Sam said cautiously, “You’re looking for a way to bring Theo back but…people don’t come back from things like this. He’s gone, and I know that’s hard for you to accept but…you need to.”

Harry didn’t say anything as he watched the morality test play out. Maybe he was clutching at straws, but something had been gnawing at him since Theo’s funeral, and he had just worked out what it was. At the very least, he had to pursue it to put his mind at rest.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	5. It's Supposed to Hurt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title comes from the song:  
> What If I Never Get Over You? by Lady A.

A family meeting hadn’t been called in Potter Manor for years, so those who had been called to it knew that there was a serious reason.

Once the Potter children were asleep. Harry stepped into the drawing-room, and all conversations came to a stop. Even the portraits watched him with interest.

Harry surveyed the occupants of the room. Everyone was here; Daphne, Neville, Lilly, Hermione and Rob.

“Why are Sadie and Draco not invited to this family meeting?” Hermione asked.

“Because I’m not sure that they can handle what I’m about to say,” Harry said honestly, “And if I’m completely honest, I know it’s going to be hellish for you to hear as well Hermione, but you’re the most logical out of the three of you, and I need you to be a part of this.”

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, “A part of what?”

Harry took a breath and said, “There is a chance, and it’s small, but it’s still a chance.”

He looked around the room, “There’s a chance that Theo’s still alive.”

Silence.

“Explain,” Hermione demanded.

“Something has been niggling at me since the funeral, then Nina said something the other night,” Harry elaborated, “And today when I was asked to help Carter assess the new candidates in their selection tests, it clicked.”

Neville crossed his arms and watched Harry with interest, as did Rob.

“Proximity charms have a three-second delay,” Harry said, “Three seconds from the point that you step into that charm and the point that the explosion goes off.”

He stepped into the middle of the room, “And three seconds doesn’t seem like a long time, does it? You can’t apparate or disapparate in three seconds, that takes between five and seven seconds.”

“But do you know what you can do in three-second?” Harry asked the room.

“Grab a portkey,” Neville answered.

Harry pointed at his best friend, “Exactly. Grab a portkey.”

He turned to Rob, “You’re the perp. I’m Theo, Neville is Draco.”

Neville took a few steps and stood behind Harry. Rob raised an eyebrow at Harry but stood in front of him all the same.

“Accio badge.”

Harry’s Auror badge flew across the room into his hand. He clipped it onto Rob’s belt and said, “That’s the portkey.”

The room was silent as everyone watched him.

“Daphne, catch.”

Daphne caught the stopwatch that Harry had just tossed her way.

“Three seconds,” He told his wife, “Shout when they are up.”

Daphne nodded.

“Ready?”

“Go.”

Harry took a step forward, grabbed Rob’s left arm, yanked it back and ripped the badge off of his belt.

“Now!” Daphne said.

“Three seconds,” Harry said, turning to the room, “Long enough to grab the portkey, blowing the perp and half of Knockturn Alley up, while transporting Theo right into the belly of the beast.”

“Well…shit,” Rob cursed.

“But Draco would have seen him do that!” Hermione exclaimed.

Harry turned to Neville, “What did you see?”

“You had your back to me, so I saw you grab something, but I couldn’t see what,” Neville answered.

“Draco wouldn’t have been able to tell if Theo grabbed the perp or the portkey,” Harry said by way of explanation, “This is why it’s not a guarantee, but there wasn’t a body, and I don’t want to give up on him until we have a body.”

“But…even if you are right,” Hermione said, swallowing a lump in her throat, “We have no idea if he is still alive. It’s been over two weeks.”

“Hermione is right,” Rob agreed, “We don’t know how big this op is. If he did escape, he might have just walked into something worse.”

“Or they might be keeping him alive because he’s an Auror and therefore an asset,” Harry said.

“But we have no way of knowing and no idea of who might be running this thing or where they might be,” Rob reminded the younger man.

Harry sighed and leant against the fireplace, “There is a way to find out if he’s dead, but it’s…it’s not ethical and it’s…not good.”

Hermione’s eyes darkened, “Harry James Potter,” she hissed, stalking towards him, “You better not mean what I think you mean!”

Harry met her eye, “I think I do.”

“What does he mean?” Daphne asked, glancing between the two ex-lovers.

Hermione didn’t take her eyes off of Harry’s, “You didn’t keep it.”

“I kept it.”

“What did he keep?” Lilly snapped.

“The resurrection stone,” Hermione said, “The stone that he was supposed to leave in the forbidden forest after the final battle. I don’t suppose you kept the elder wand too?”

“No, that is _exactly_ where I left it,” Harry assured her.

“The resurrection stone?” Lilly asked, “As in one of the deathly hallows?”

“Yeah,” Harry said, “Daphne, Nev, Lil; I’m really sorry that I never told you this. There isn’t much that is just between me, Hermione and Ron these days but this is one of those things.”

Daphne raised an eyebrow at him but said no more.

Neville crossed his arms and looked at Harry expectantly.

“What the fuck have you done?” Lilly asked bluntly.

“The deathly hallows are real. I united them all during the war, I already had the cloak of invisibility because I’m descended from a Peverell brother,” Harry explained, “Dumbledore had the elder wand, Draco disarmed Dumbledore before he died. Then I disarmed Draco in Malfoy Manor which made me the master of the wand. Then Dumbledore gave me a hollow snitch with the resurrection stone inside it which opened when I walked to my death in the forbidden forest. It’s how I survived when Voldemort killed me.”

There was a stunned silence. Harry took a breath and finished, “I have hidden the wand, but because I am the master of it, and I possess the other two hallows, I’m the master of death.”

“Does that mean you can bring Theo back?” Rob asked.

Harry shook his head.

“You’re the master of death,” Neville said in disbelief.

“Does that mean you can’t die?” Daphne questioned.

Lilly scoffed, “Of course not, it’s a ceremonial title.”

Harry looked at her in surprise, “How do you know that?”

“I read,” Lilly answered, “A lot.”

Hermione smiled a little at that.

“It’s symbolic,” Lilly explained for the benefit of the others, “They call the person who can unite the hallows the master of death because they can cheat death to a degree. If they have the wand, they are almost impossible to kill. If they have the stone, they can bring people back from the dead, in a way. And if they have the cloak, they can hide from those who want to kill them, but that doesn’t stop someone from sneaking up in the middle of the night and stabbing them in the heart, does it?”

Harry smiled at Lilly, “I love your blunt honesty, Lil. It makes explaining this shit a lot easier.”

Lilly shrugged, “Am I right then?”

“Yeah,” Harry answered, “And while I can’t bring Theo back from the dead, I _can_ check if he is dead.”

“With the resurrection stone?” Hermione questioned.

Harry nodded, “If I think about Theo and activate it, and he appears then he’s dead, and everyone can get a bit of closure.”

“And if he doesn’t appear, that means he’s alive?” Rob questioned.

“Exactly.”

“Do it then,” Daphne said simply.

Harry walked to the fireplace and picked up a picture of his parents on their wedding day. He whispered an incantation, causing a secret compartment at the back of it to open. Inside was a tiny black stone with the deathly hallows symbol etched onto it.

The tension in the air was fraught as Harry closed his eyes and turned the stone over in his hands. When he opened them, nothing happened.

“Is something meant to happen?” Rob asked.

“Yeah, he should have appeared,” Harry said, gesturing in front of him.

“Are you sure that it still works?” Hermione asked, “Perhaps if you had the elder wand-”

“No, Hermione,” Harry snapped, “They are not reliant on each other. If that were the case, then the invisibility cloak wouldn’t work unless I had the other two hallows.”

“But, are you sure-”

“I’m sure!” Harry snapped.

“Well then bring someone back,” Rob said.

“No,” Harry said irritably, “I’m not dragging someone back from the dead, I’m not putting everyone through that just to prove a fucking point!”

“He has a point though, Harry,” Daphne said, gripping Harry’s wrist, “The only way to tell if it is working and therefore if Theo is alive or not, is to test it with someone that we know is dead.”

Harry sighed and clenched the stone tightly, “Okay. I’ll bring someone back but not for long, and nobody that is too close to any of us.”

Hermione nodded.

Harry sighed heavily, “Two people are going to have to hold onto me when I turn the stone because the last time I did this, only I could see them.”

He looked up and said, “One of them has to be Daphne, but who is the second person going to be?”

“Lilly,” Neville said.

Lilly looked at her husband in alarm, “Me?”

“I trust Harry with my life,” Neville said. He met Harry’s eye, “If you say you see someone, you know I’ll believe you. You know I’ll trust that everything you tell me is the truth. Lilly is logical, and that can make her cold, she needs to see things to believe them, just like Daphne.”

“Come on then,” Harry said, looking at the two women, “Grab an arm each.”

Daphne took Harry’s right arm, and Lilly took his left arm. He turned the stone three times then looked up. He knew that Daphne and Lilly could see him too, from the gasps that escaped their lips.

Sirius Black stood before them, looking young and handsome with a carefree smile on his lips.

“Harry,” Sirius beamed, “Haven’t you done well for yourself?”

Harry smiled sadly, “Hey Sirius. Wish I could say it’s good to see you but…”

“Ah, don’t worry. I don’t take it personally,” Sirius said offhandedly, “We’ve been watching you, you know? That sounded creepy, but you get the gist. We can see all the big moments in your life, you know? Weddings, funerals, all those babies you keep saving and making.”

“In that case, you know why I had to do this,” Harry said.

“Yeah,” Sirius agreed, “And I’m a little bit honoured that you chose me; I’ll be honest.”

“Of course I chose you,” Harry said, “When you were alive, you were always the first person that I went to for advice, about everything.”

“Girls and dark wizards mostly, those were the things you always needed advice with,” Sirius teased, “And I must have done one hell of a job as a godfather because you fight dark wizards for a living now and your wife…” he whistled.

Harry snorted in amusement, “Watch out, Remus will get jealous in the afterlife.”

“Don’t talk to me about afterlife jealousy,” Sirius said with a roll of his eyes, “Imagine the love of your life dying and finally joining you in the afterlife, only for you to discover that you’re getting dragged into a three-way with your baby cousin.”

“Well, you are Blacks,” Daphne smirked.

“She’s feisty too, I do like her Harry,” Sirius grinned.

Harry laughed at that, “Please tell me you’re joking with that three-way comment?”

“I wish I was,” Sirius snorted, “I managed to avoid inter-cousin relationships while I was alive – apart from that one time in a broom closet with Narcissa – and this is what I get faced with in the afterlife?”

Daphne made a face, “That’s my step-mother you’re talking about.”

“Yeah, that’s weirder than my afterlife three-way,” Sirius pointed out.

“Look, Sirius, as much as I could talk to you all day,” Harry said with a frown, “You know I can’t. The longer you’re here for, the stronger the pull is.”

“That’s how it works,” Sirius agreed with a nod.

“Before you go, can I ask you something?” Harry queried.

“Anything,” Sirius replied.

“Do you know if Theo is dead or not?”

Sirius nodded, “He’s not dead. If he were, we would have felt him pass through.”

“What do you mean?” Lilly asked.

“Every time someone from our timeline dies, regardless of how feeble that connection is, we feel it,” Sirius said, “Everyone ends up at the gates being a nosy bastard to find out who the dead person is. Theo hasn’t passed through, so he must be alive.”

“Do you know where he is?” Harry asked, knowing that it was a long-shot.

Sirius shook his head, “Sorry kiddo, it doesn’t work like that.”

“I didn’t think it did,” Harry confessed, “I need to let you go Sirius.”

Sirius smiled and said, “I know you do. Goodbye, Harry.”

Harry dropped the resurrection stone, and Sirius disappeared. Daphne and Lilly let go of his arms, and those who hadn’t been able to see Sirius looked at Harry expectantly.

“Theo’s alive,” Harry said, “And someone needs to hide that stone…forever.”

“Shit,” Neville muttered, “What do we do?”

“Find him, somehow,” Harry replied.

“How?” Rob asked, “We’ve got no fucking leads, Harry!”

Neville sighed, “I hate to admit it but Rob’s right. We’re working this from the Homicide side, and Rob is working it from Vice. There are bloody good Aurors in both departments, and none of us are getting anywhere.”

“Because there are no leads,” Rob reiterated.

“No leads at all?” Hermione asked.

“None,” Neville answered.

“Every single guy who is connected to these people just disappears. It’s like we’re on them, on them, on them and then they are gone,” Rob added.

Harry nodded as a thought began to form, “It’s like someone is going behind us with a rubber, erasing every useful bit of information.”

“Like someone is covering their tracks?” Hermione questioned.

“And there’s only one person who would know what leads you had,” Lilly pointed out.

Rob’s frown deepened, “A dirty Auror.”

“But…veritaserum testing?” Neville said.

“The veritaserum questions are there to fish out psychopaths or Voldemort sympathisers,” Rob pointed out, “There’s nothing to say that this person is any of that.”

“Look at Graves,” Harry said, “He was just trying to make money on the side and taking the law into his own hands. If this person thinks they have a clean conscience and has no dark connections, then a veritaserum test would come back clean.”

“It’s the only pitfall of veritaserum,” Lilly agreed, “Slughorn told us this years ago in school, you need to ask the right questions, or it’s useless.”

“Still…” Harry said, “They would have to get through Auror training too…can’t we access all of the trainee's simulation scenarios and watch them back?”

“Not without a warrant and the minute we do that, the dirty Auror will catch wind of what we’re up to,” Rob answered.

“At which point, they kill Theo,” Daphne said quietly.

“We can’t research this in the department,” Rob said, “And we can’t tell any other Aurors unless we explicitly trust them so who do we trust?”

“Sumner, without a doubt,” Harry said.

“Shep and Liz,” Rob added, “I trust Shep with my life.”

“And Elizabeth is the department Mum,” Harry said with a nod, “She wouldn’t hurt any of us.”

Neville nodded, “We trust Draco, obviously.”

“Blanche and Ophelia,” Harry agreed, “We trained with them, they’re anything but dirty.”

“Mitch,” Rob said, “I trained with him, and he’s as clean as they come.”

“Sorenson surely?” Daphne asked, “Theo’s his brother in law.”

“That doesn’t make him innocent,” Harry said with a frown.

“Those two have never seen eye to eye,” Neville agreed, “I’m not saying he would intentionally do anything to hurt Theo but…I don’t trust him.”

“Neither do I,” Harry said.

“What about Oliver?” Neville asked.

“I’d like to say that we can trust him,” Harry said with a sigh, “But none of us know him well enough to say for sure. I played Quidditch with him at school, but that doesn’t make him trustworthy.”

“True,” Neville said with a frown.

“Percy,” Daphne said, “You know that he would never do anything to hurt Theo.”

“So that gives us what, an extra seven people?” Rob said, doing the math in his head.

Harry began to pace, “We need to tell Sumner, Sheppard and Elizabeth first. I hate to sound like a Slytherin, but in Draco’s place, I need to. We only bring people into the fold when we need them.”

“How are you going to tell them if you can’t talk in the department?”

“Easy,” Harry said, meeting Robs’s eye and smiling, “We find a reason to get them all in CPS after 5 pm one night. It’s a separate building, and it’s still considered a joke by the majority of the department. Nobody is going to think twice about a staff meeting taking place between the Head Auror, his Assistant Head and the two heads of CPS. They don’t need to know that all of us will be there too.”

“Great,” Rob remarked, “This means it’s up to me to make sure that meeting happens, isn’t it?”

“Well volunteered Wolfie,” Harry said.

Hermione sighed, “We need to tell Draco and Sadie.”

“Yeah,” Harry agreed, “We do…”

* * *

Standing in front of Sadie and Draco in Grimmauld Place, Harry felt worse than he had before he walked into the Forbidden Forest to meet his doom all of those years ago.

Daphne was by his side, and Hermione sat on the edge of her armchair, looking wary. Harry didn’t blame her; this wasn’t going to be an easy conversation.

“What’s going on?” Draco asked, his eyes flicking from Harry to Daphne.

“I have something to tell you,” Harry admitted.

Sadie raised an eyebrow, “Then spit it out. It can’t be worse than anything else we’ve been through already, can it?”

Harry wasn’t so sure about that. He sighed, “Yes, it could be.”

“Well spit it out then,” Draco remarked.

Harry said it the only way he could, bluntly.

“Theo is alive.”

“What?” Sadie’s voice asked feebly.

Draco shook his head and got to his feet, “No.”

“Draco-” Daphne began to say.

“No! I saw him die! I saw it happen!” Draco shouted.

“We don’t always understand what we see, Draco,” Hermione said, grabbing her husbands hand, “Especially when we’re upset.”

“The perp had a portkey on him,” Harry said, “Theo worked that out. There is a three-second delay between a proximity charm being activated and the explosion. Theo is smart and logical; he knew that three seconds was long enough to grab the portkey, so he did.”

“Shut up,” Draco said coolly, “Don’t you dare drag this all up now! We’ve buried him; we’re finally beginning to come to terms with what happened, and then you come in here with this? With this bullshit?”

“It’s not bullshit, Draco,” Daphne said, “It’s the truth.”

“Why would I come in here with a load of bullshit?” Harry asked hotly, “Why would I lie about this? I missed my second kid being born to sort out _your_ bullshit, remember?”

“Oh, so it’s all about you, then?” Draco snapped, “Perfect Potter!”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Oh grow up, Draco! I just told you that your boyfriend is still alive and this is how you thank me?”

“He’s not alive!” Draco shouted, “He can’t be!”

At that point, someone threw a curse. Harry was pretty sure that it was Draco, but either way, they were duelling.

Daphne put an arm around Sadie and pulled her away from the fight.

“If he’s alive then…” Sadie took a shaky breath, “How do we get him back?”

“Harry and the boys, they are working on that,” Daphne promised, “But it starts with bringing their boss into the fold tonight.”

“And you…you’re sure that he’s still alive?” Sadie asked.

Daphne nodded, “Harry had a method of checking, and it checked out. He’s not dead; we just need to find him now.”

Sadie shook her head and looked at the duel happened in her drawing-room, “Enough!” she snapped.

Draco stopped firing spells immediately, and Harry took a step back, half expecting Sadie to punch Draco in the face.

“Theo’s alive,” Sadie said, “Stop being an idiot and just enjoy that for a minute. He’s alive.”

Hermione stepped forward and grabbed Sadie’s hand, “He is, and we are going to do whatever it takes to get him back.”

“Whatever it takes?” Draco asked, his eyes focusing on Harry’s.

Harry nodded, “Whatever it takes.”

* * *

“Hon, do you want to go home?”

“No, no, I’m fine.”

Clara raised an eyebrow at Lilly, “You’re not fine, you’re sick. I don’t let sick people work with the sick people.”

“I’m not sick,” Lilly said, sitting down slowly in the staff room.

“How many times have you thrown up this morning?” Clara asked, crossing her arms as she stared her colleague down.

“Two or three,” Lilly muttered, “But I think it’s just exhaustion, Clara. I’ve not slept that well since Theo died. I feel a lot more anxious every morning that I say goodbye to Neville, and I’m worried about Sadie, Draco and Hermione.”

Clara walked to the sink and poured a glass of water out. She gave it to Lilly and said, “Sip that.”

Lilly did so, making a face as her stomach churned.

“You keeping anything down?” Clara asked.

“Not in the mornings,” Lilly replied, “It usually passes by 9 am. I used to get like this in school when I had been up all night studying, except I didn’t physically throw up back then.”

Clara cocked her head at her friend, “Have you done a pregnancy test?”

Lilly laughed, “No, because I know it’s not that. I had my pregnancy test after the last round of IVF remember? It was negative; it didn’t work.”

“How sure are you of your ovulation days?” Clara questioned, “We’re Healers, we’re always telling people that their dates could be off by up to a week. If you were off, even just by a couple of days, it might have been too early to test.”

“Still,” Lilly frowned, “I’m normally pretty accurate with my own body-clock.”

“I still think you should let me check,” Clara said, “Just to rule it out, and if you’re right. I’ll give you something to help you sleep.”

Lilly sighed, “On you go then.”

Clara cast the charm quickly. It was routine in their job, every time someone came into the hospital with a sore stomach or stomach pains the first question that they asked was, “Is there a chance you could be pregnant?”

Lilly put her cup of water down and was glad that she had done because otherwise, she might have dropped it when the smoke from Clara’s wand turned pink.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Lilly said in disbelief.

Clara grinned, “Nope and…” she cast another charm which caused a pile of numbers to appear, “Four weeks and two days. When was your post IVF test?”

“Three weeks ago,” Lilly answered.

“Too early to detect pregnancy then,” Clara said, “You know it only works from the two-week mark.”

Lilly nodded in disbelief.

Clara ended the spell, “You’re pregnant.”

“Yeah,” Lilly said.

“Shouldn’t you be over the moon about that?” Clara asked.

Lilly frowned and looked down at her hands, “I don’t know. Not yet, I don’t think. It’s not like it’s the first time I’ve been pregnant. I just…I don’t want to get my hopes up after the last couple of times.”

“I get that, Lil,” Clara said honestly, “I really do, but I am sending you home for the rest of the day. Catch up on some sleep, eat something as soon as the sickness passes and rest. Okay? Then come back in well-rested in a couple of days.”

Lilly usually argued it, but not today. She knew that Clara was right, and she was in shock if she was honest, “Okay,” she agreed.

* * *

“I think we should have a staff meeting tonight.”

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at Rob, “Who are you, and what have you done with Rob Wolfe?”

“Hey! Do you mind? I’ve got some new ideas. I could do with putting them forward and bouncing them off a couple of people…like Shep and Sumner.”

Elizabeth crossed her arms, “What’s wrong with bouncing them off me like you have done for the best part of five years?”

“Well…maybe I need a fresh perspective,” Rob said, “I even bought you coffee.”

Elizabeth took the cup, sniffed it cautiously then said, “Okay, what the hell is going on?”

“Why do you assume something is going on?” Rob asked defensively.

“You want to know how I worked it out?” Elizabeth asked with a snort, “Because it doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes. You, Robert Wolfe, complain about staff meetings and fake sickness to get out of them-”

“I wasn’t faking it-”

“You’re married to my sister,” Elizabeth reminded him, “I know you were faking it.”

Rob grimaced, “Yeah, fair point.”

“You also don’t buy me coffee, ever,” Elizabeth continued, “In fact, the last time you bought me coffee was when you told me I was going to be an Aunt and Natasha is what, four this December?”

“Yeah,” Rob said sheepishly.

“Also, this is pumpkin spice, and you went all the way into the muggle world to get me it,” Elizabeth said, “So what’s going on? Did you kill someone? Are you cheating on Jen? Is she pregnant again?”

“Jesus Christ, woman,” Rob said with a roll of his eyes, “No, I haven’t killed anyone, I’d never cheat on Jen and thank the lord she’s not pregnant again because I love that girl, but she’s a real screamer when it comes to childbirth.”

“I’d like to see you try and shove a baby out,” Elizabeth remarked.

“Would be quite a sight since it would have to come out of my arse.”

“You’re impossible,” Elizabeth scoffed, “I’m not calling a staff meeting because you have a whim.”

Rob grabbed her wrist and dropped the act, “Elizabeth, please. I can’t tell you everything yet, but I will once the other two are here. You need to trust me.”

Elizabeth met his eyes. He had done three things that had shocked her and that were totally out of character for him: he had called her Elizabeth, said please and asked her to trust him.

“I need you to get John here for 5.30 pm tonight,” Rob said, “And then I need _him_ to get Sumner here too.”

“Just the four of us? Not Montgomery and Savage?” Elizabeth asked, referring to the other two Aurors who worked in CPS.

“Not them,” Rob said, “I don’t know if we can trust them.”

Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed, “You’re acting like paranoid Rob. I haven’t seen him around since the war.”

“Exactly,” Rob said, a dark expression in his eyes.

* * *

“Wolfe.”

Rob looked up and nodded at Sumner, “Jack.”

“Why are we here?” John asked from Jack’s side.

“I’ll tell you when the others arrive,” Rob said, leaning back in his chair, “I’d sit down if I were you.”

John looked at Elizabeth warily, but she just shrugged to indicate that she didn’t know what was going on either. The front door opened, and the bell jingled to let them know that someone was entering the building.

They all turned around as Harry, Neville and Draco walked into the main office.

“What the hell is going on, Wolfe?” Sumner asked impatiently.

“There is something that the four of us need to discuss with you,” Rob explained.

“And why couldn’t you have come to my office within normal working hours to discuss it?” Sumner asked tersely.

Rob smirked, “I don’t like your office. Every time I’m in it, you try and fire me.”

“I’ll fire you right now if you don’t tell me what’s going on,” Sumner threatened.

“Harry, wanna fill the big boss in? Cause I’m pretty sure he’ll follow through on that threat,” Rob said to the younger man.

Harry nodded and stepped forward, “Theo is alive.”

There was a collective sigh.

“Harry,” Elizabeth said gently, “I know you miss him, but he’s gone, and you need to accept that.”

“You sound like Sam,” Harry said with an irritated shake of his head, “And with all due respect, Elizabeth, you’re wrong.”

“She’s just trying to look out for you, Harry,” John said, “You’re clutching at straws and looking for something when there’s nothing there.”

“You’ve lost a lot, son,” Sumner agreed, “I know it must be hard for you to lose a colleague and a friend, but this isn’t the way to cope with that loss.”

Harry shook his head again, “Do you know something? I knew you would be sceptical, which is why I came prepared to show you that I’m not losing my mind, I’m _not_ clutching at straws.”

The three Senior Aurors didn’t look convinced, so Harry said, “Shep, catch.”

John raised his hand and caught the stopwatch that Harry had just thrown at him.

“Rob, badge?”

Rob tossed Harry his badge and Harry clipped it onto Neville’s belt.

“Three seconds,” Harry said calmly, “That’s the gap between a proximity charm activating and the explosion that it triggers going off. It’s not enough time to apparate, but it is enough time to grab a portkey. Rob’s badge is the portkey, Neville is the perp, and I’m Theo.”

John, Elizabeth and Jack watched silently.

“Let me know when the timer has started and watch closely, Shep.”

John nodded, “Go.”

Harry stepped forward as he had at Potter Manor. Neville raised his arm, but Harry grabbed it and pushed it aside. Then he yanked his hand away and grabbed the badge with the other and took a step back.

“Time’s up,” John said.

“Shit,” Elizabeth whispered.

Harry looked up in surprise; he didn’t think he had ever heard Elizabeth swear.

“It’s still a theory,” Sumner said.

“But it’s a good one,” Harry pointed out, “Draco, you’ve played Quidditch with Theo and me for long enough now. Would you say that I have slightly better reflexes than Theo?”

“Yours are a little faster,” Draco conceded.

“Okay,” Harry said, he pinned Rob’s badge onto his belt, “Neville, you do it. You’re bigger than Theo, which means you’ll be slower than me. If you can do it, Theo definitely could.”

Neville nodded to John, who then said, “Go.”

He did exactly what Harry had done and granted, he only _just_ did it before John called time, but he still managed it.

"Theo was trying to suss something out,” Draco said, “He said something weird to the perp about how his boss was a shit one because he sent his guys out with proximity charms on them for security reasons. He looked into the perps eye as he said that.”

“He was trying to work out if the perp was just a fearless idiot on a suicide mission or if there was a reason he wasn’t afraid,” Neville explained.

“And there was a reason,” Harry finished, “The perp had a portkey. Theo grabbed it and blew the perp up in the process.”

“The only thing I can’t work out is why he didn’t use our mind link to tell me,” Draco admitted.

“I can,” Elizabeth admitted, “Theo thinks like me. For someone who wasn’t in Ravenclaw, he certainly does think like one. He’s always at least three steps ahead of everyone else in the room. He was too busy thinking about what he would do when he got to wherever the portkey took him.”

“And he’s also as rash as all the Gryffindors I know,” Harry confessed, “He acted on instinct.”

Sumner nodded and let out a sigh, “Yeah, you sound like you’re onto something. But again, why could we not have discussed this in my office? Why are we meeting in the CPS building with the lights down low and the door locked like we’re back in the 1980s?”

“Because we aren’t sure who's listening to our conversations in the main department,” Rob said, “ _Just_ like in the 1980s.”

Sumner’s brow furrowed, “You think a dirty Auror is in on this?”

“How else do you explain our leads?” Harry asked his boss.

“What leads?” Sumner questioned.

“Exactly,” Neville responded, “The minute we get something, it disappears. That’s not a coincidence. Somebody is close enough to this to make the evidence and the people disappear.”

“Somebody knows exactly what we’re doing,” Rob said, “It’s just like it was during the first war, back before Voldemort had openly taken control of the ministry. You didn’t know if your partner was with you till the end of the line or if they would stab you in the back the first chance you got, remember?”

“Of course I remember,” Sumner said, his eyes darkening, “Those were very dark days.”

“That’s what it feels like right now,” Rob said sincerely.

Sumner got to his feet and cleared his throat, “The people in this room are the only ones who know the truth about Auror Nott then?”

“Yes, sir,” Harry answered.

“In that case, let’s take this to a safe place,” Sumner said.

“Well, we can use Potter Manor-” Harry began to say.

Sumner interrupted, “No, we can’t risk using any of your houses. You all have wives and children. We’re not putting any targets on people’s heads. We can use my house as a base; I live alone.”

“Okay,” Harry said, “Uh, where do you live, sir?”

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	6. It Comes in Waves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title comes from the song:  
> What If I Never Get Over You? by Lady A.

It turned out that Sumner lived in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in rural Yorkshire. His house looked relatively normal and modest. It wasn’t too old, it wasn’t huge, but it had a nice big back garden with kennels for his dogs.

The others all followed Sumner inside and discovered that the inside of his house was just as ordinary as the outside. The shock came when they reached the kitchen. Sumner’s house was an old-fashioned farmhouse, so it did have a large kitchen. At the heart of that classic farm kitchen was an island with wooden barstools around it, in place of a dining room table.

Sumner stepped forward and placed his hand against one of the wall panels of the island, and a female voice said, “Welcome, Jack.”

Harry jumped in alarm as the wall panel slid away. Underneath the island was a trapdoor.

“Please tell me it’s not a slide,” Harry said.

“A slide?” Sumner asked in disbelief, “What age do you think I am, Potter?”

“Well Salazar Slytherin had a slide into his secret lair, and he was ancient,” Harry argued.

“Salazar Slytherin?” John asked, raising an eyebrow at Harry.

“Yeah, I speak to snakes, remember? I sort of opened the chamber of secrets when I was 12. That was when I killed the Basilisk, but anyway you get into the chamber of secrets by going down a massive slide,” Harry said offhandedly, “I always thought there must have been another entrance, you know? I just couldn’t picture Voldemort sliding down there to have evil chats with his snake like – wheeeeee!”

“Is he losing his mind?” Elizabeth asked Neville under her breath

“No, but he hasn’t slept in 24 hours,” Neville said, shoving a pepper up potion into Harry’s hands, “Drink that and stop acting like a child.”

“Thanks,” Harry said sheepishly.

“To be fair, I’m pretty excited about the secret lair under our bosses kitchen too,” Rob pointed out.

Sumner rolled her eyes, “Come on.”

Sumner sat down and stepped onto a ladder, then descended. As he did so, lights automatically came on. The others followed him down, and they all stared around in amazement at the cave they emerged into.

“Sumner is Batman!” Rob squealed.

“Stop acting like a child, Wolfe,” Sumner said dryly, “I read comics as a child and decided to use the ideas in them practically. You read comics as a child and decided to become an Auror in the hope it would make you a desirable vigilante.”

“How did that work out for you?” John snorted, patting Rob on the back.

“Got there in the end, didn’t I?” Rob retorted, glaring at Sumners back.

The ‘lair’ was a circular room with a few doors leading off of it. Sumner pointed to one and said, “That’s a copy of my office. That’s a copy of the duelling chamber at the centre, and that’s a copy of the file room.”

“An exact copy?” John asked hopefully.

Sumner bowed his head, “An exact copy. Every file that you would find in the ministry is in that room.”

“Brilliant,” John said with a grin. He disappeared into the side room, and the others looked around at the main room. It was lit by gas lamps that flickered away happily on the walls. There was a desk with a comfortable armchair behind it and a sofa that looked like it had seen better days.

“Since when did Batman have kids?” Rob joked, looking at a dollhouse that had been left open on the floor.

Sumner smiled slightly, “I tell my daughter not to come down here with Edith, but she never listens.”

“Edith?” Neville asked.

“My grand-daughter,” Sumner explained, “She was named after her father, Eddie. He died in the final battle while Caroline was pregnant.”

Harry’s eyes widened, “Healer Lamb is your daughter?”

“Excellent powers of deduction there, Potter,” Sumner said with an amused smile.

Before Harry could dwell on that anymore, John returned from the filing room with a massive pile of paperwork. He dropped it on the desk and said, “I hope you’ve got coffee down here Jack because it’s going to be a long night.”

Sumner waved his wand, and a coffee machine appeared, along with several mugs and a pot of sugar.

“Grand,” Rob said, clapping his hands together, “Because we’re going to have to look through all of our colleague's files. Shep, replicate them.”

John did so and sent a pile of cardboard folders in every direction.

“Everyone needs to read them and look for red flags,” John said, “If only one of us reads them, we might miss something.”

“So what are we looking for, exactly?” Draco asked, “Because I bet there are a hell of a lot of red flags in my file, but I didn’t take Theo.”

“I know,” Rob said, patting Draco on the back, “We’re looking for people who might have a reason to go dark or a reason to be dirty. People who have a grudge against the Death Eaters or who have lost someone they love.”

Draco nodded and looked down at the first file, “Okay.”

“If you see anything weird, shout,” John said, sitting down behind the desk.

Harry sat down on the sofa and transfigured a table up in front of him. He glanced over at Neville, “It’s going to be a long night.”

“Yeah,” Neville yawned, “It is.”

“Well straight off the mark, we have Travis Bishop,” Draco said, “Raised in an orphanage after his parents and sister died in a house fire in 1986.”

John shook his head, “Bishop is clean. There’s no bad blood there, it was just a tragic fire, and it’s a miracle that he escaped. It’s why he wanted to work for Arson. I very much doubt he’s dirty.”

Draco nodded, and they all went back to perusing the files until a snort came from Rob, “Harry, do you realise what it says in your file under additional info?”

Harry looked up, “No, what?”

“ _Former alcoholic with a certain disregard for authority figures_ ,” Rob said with a smirk.

Harry snorted too, “Well, it’s not wrong, and two can play at the game, Wolfie.”

Rob rolled his eyes as Harry flipped open his file. He sniggered immediately, “Fears? Religious figures and clowns.”

“I was raised by satanic nuns!” Rob said defensively.

“I know, it says that in additional info,” Harry grinned, “ _Raised in muggle orphanage by ‘satanic nuns’._ ”

“You actually wrote that?” Rob asked John in amusement.

“What can I say, I like to have a bit of fun when I’m doing paperwork,” John said with a grin.

“The religious figures bit I get, but clowns?” Harry chuckled.

“I had a terrifying experience on my eighth birthday, okay? Stop being judgemental,” Rob muttered under his breath.

“And your animagus form is a Tasmanian Devil?”

Neville spat his coffee out at this, “And you had a go at Theo for being small and cute when you found out that his animagus form was a Red Panda?”

“Tasmanian Devil’s are not small and cute. They are lethal! They have a stronger bite than even a lion; it can crush bone _and_ metal!”

“Shut up,” Draco said sharply, “You just made a good point; Theo’s an animagus. Surely he could have used that to escape?”

Elizabeth shook her head, “No, this person is an Auror, so they will know that most Aurors above a certain level tend to be an Animagus. They will have warded against it, Theo won’t be able to transform.”

“Shit,” Draco said, sighing heavily and looking down at the file once more.

He looked terrible; Daphne had said that she hadn’t seen him like this since the war. His shirts were never crease-free like they used to be. His hair was longer; he had grown a beard and just looked scruffy. In truth, he looked older than his years. Daphne had told Harry that this was how he had looked when Theo was in the Dark Tower. He had been manic, on the verge of deranged.

**Sometime later...**

“Huh,” Neville remarked, “Did anyone know that Lucy’s real name is Lucia?”

“Who?” A few people asked.

“Lucy,” Neville said, looking around the room at the blank faces, “Junior Auror Cross?”

Harry frowned, “Cross…”

“Organised Crime,” Draco said with a yawn, “She has glasses, looks a bit like Sadie?”

Harry had a moment of realisation, “Oh, yeah. Glasses, blonde hair. She’s sort of nerdy but in a cute way, like Lil?”

“Don’t tell Lil you called her cute,” Neville snorted, “And yes, that’s her. Everyone calls her Lucy or Auror Cross. I didn’t even realise that her full name was Lucia.”

“Well nobody calls me Robert,” Rob shrugged, “Mind you, Robert is tame compared to Lucia. That’s a weird name, quite pureblood-ey, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Draco said, running his hands through his hair, “It’s the feminine version of Lucius.”

Harry frowned at that, “What?”

Draco looked up, “Lucia, it’s Roman, and it’s the feminine form of Lucius.”

Neville looked down at the file, “Draco…is there any chance your dad could have knocked someone up? Because her name is the feminine form of your dads and she has blonde hair.”

“Blue eyes though,” Harry said thoughtfully, “Draco’s are grey.”

“Noticed that while you were looking into them and insulting each other back in school, did you?” Neville joked.

Harry snorted, “Something like that. Seriously though Draco, is there a chance? Cause from the way Theo talked about your dad…he sounded like a bit of a cheating scumbag.”

“He was,” Draco agreed, “But it was normally…” he frowned and looked at the Senior Aurors, “I’m sorry because this isn’t pleasant.”

“I think I can guess where this is going,” Elizabeth admitted distastefully.

Draco sighed, “It was normally with muggles who didn’t consent, and he was always meticulous because the last thing he wanted was a squib or half-blood illegitimate child to pop up.”

“Lovely,” Sumner remarked dryly.

“It wouldn’t be that anyway,” Neville said, “It says in Lucia’s file that she’s a pureblood. I doubt she knew that because she was raised in orphanages and foster homes, but when she joined the Aurors, they did a blood test to determine her blood status.”

“A pureblood?” Draco asked in alarm, “No…I mean the only witch my father had an affair with was Theo’s mother.”

“And there’s no chance that he could have gotten her pregnant?” Rob asked.

Draco’s frown deepened, “I don’t see how he could have done. Almina died not long after Theo was born and Cross is younger than us, isn’t she?”

Harry glanced down at the file in Neville’s lap, “She was born on the 27th of November 1982.”

Draco paled significantly.

“What?” Harry asked, “What does that look mean?”

“Theo’s mum,” Draco said, swallowing a lump in his throat, “She died on the 28th of November 1982.”

“Oh…fuck,” Rob uttered.

“Don’t assume anything,” Sumner said, “Not without a birth certificate. Even if Cross was born in a muggle hospital, there will be a copy of her birth certificate in St. Mungos. That will confirm her mothers name if nothing else.”

“But if we are right,” Harry said slowly, “There’s every chance that she hates you and Theo because _your_ parents abandoned her.”

“It’s enough to make anyone go dirty,” Neville admitted, “I mean I reckon she only found out when she became an Auror and knowing that your whole life had been a lie…it could make you snap.”

“Again, don’t assume,” Sumner said, pointing at Neville, “Ever.”

“Sorry, sir.”

“Whose going to volunteer to go to St. Mungo’s and get a copy of that birth certificate, then?” John asked.

“I’ll go,” Neville said instantly.

“No surprises there,” Rob snorted, “Is it little miss Moons night on by any chance?”

“It is and if she hears you call her that, she’ll punch you _again_ ,” Neville said, shooting Rob a grin.

“You cried the last time,” Harry grinned.

“I didn’t cry; she nearly broke my nose!” Rob said, “My eyes were watering.”

“You bawled like a baby!” Neville said, cackling as he left the secret lair.

“I did not bawl like a fucking baby,” Rob muttered as he threw his file onto the desk and made a beeline for the coffee machine.

* * *

When Neville got to St. Mungo’s, he needed to go to the first floor to reach the files he was after, but he decided to swing by the trauma ward first. It was in a separate building, attached to St. Mungos via an ornate glass and steel concealed bridge that had been added during the Victorian era.

It was late at night, so he expected the ward to be relatively quiet. Usually, on nights like this, Lilly was sitting at the desk in reception chatting to the junior Healers and drinking coffee. Instead, he saw Clara trying to stay awake as she rested her head in her hands.

“Hey, Clara.”

Her head jerked up, “Hey Neville,” she said with a tired smile, “What can I do for you?”

“I just wondered where Lilly was?” Neville admitted, “It’s her night on, isn’t it?”

“It’s meant to be, but I sent the poor girl home,” Clara yawned.

“Why?” Neville asked quickly, “Is she okay?”

“She’s fine,” Clara promised, “She’s just exhausted, and that’s making her feel pretty ill. She needs to catch up on sleep and get some rest.”

Neville sighed, “I feel bad for having to work all night. I thought she was working too but if she’s at home ill and I’m-”

“Neville,” Clara cut in, “She’s knackered. She probably went home and slept, and she’s probably going to spend the whole night sleeping, on and off. I wouldn’t feel too bad, just send her a Patronus so she knows not to expect you home.”

“Yeah, I will,” Neville agreed.

“What has you working all night anyway?” Clara asked curiously.

“Case,” Neville yawned, “Tough one.”

“Par for the course then?” Clara asked with a slight smile.

“Pretty much,” Neville agreed, “But I’d better get on. I’ll see you later!”

He jogged out of the ward, sent Lilly an apologetic Patronus then headed up to the filing room. He had to scan his wand before he was granted access, but when it recognised him as an Auror, the door swung open.

Once he was in, all he had to do was summon the file he needed, “Accio birth certificate of Lucia Cross.”

A drawer popped open, and a piece of parchment flew into his hands. Neville scanned it and cursed in a whisper when he saw the name, _“Almina Cross”_ listed as the birth mother.

He turned the piece of parchment over as silver writing appeared saying, _“File accessed by Auror Neville Longbottom on the 23 rd of August, 2005.”_

Above that writing were similar words in the same silvery writing.

_“File accessed by Auror Recruit Lucia Cross on the 2 nd of September, 2000.”_

“Fuck,” Neville whispered. He copied the birth certificate, put the original back and left the hospital in a hurry.

* * *

When Neville stepped back into Sumner’s basement, everyone looked up expectantly.

“Welcome back to the Batcave,” Rob said from where he was lounging on a sofa with his feet on Harry’s lap.

“Call it that one more time and I’ll dishonourably discharge you,” Sumner said irritably.

Neville sighed, “The birth mother is listed as Almina Cross.”

“Fuck!” Draco cursed, kicking the desk angrily.

“We looked into her surname while you were gone,” Elizabeth admitted, “Almina’s surname was originally Crouch before she married Theo’s father.”

“Yeah, she’s Daphne’s aunt,” Neville said with a nod.

Elizabeth glanced down at the book that was open on her lap and read, “ _The surname Crouch is of Anglo-Saxon origin and is a topographical name for someone who lived by a cross. The derivation of the name is from the Middle English “crouch”, a cross, itself from the Olde English pre-7 th-century word “cruc”. This word was replaced in Middle English by the Old Norse form “cross”._”

“Lucius Crouch is the literal translation of her name,” Draco said with a shake of his head, “And none of us ever noticed.”

“Because none of us noticed her,” Harry said with a sigh, “And that’s going to make her as bitter as her shitty backstory.”

“Her shitty backstory?” Neville asked.

“Harry commandeered some muggle records while you were gone,” Sumner said.

“Nicked,” Rob cut in with a grin, “He nicked them.”

“It was moderately illegal,” Harry confessed, “But Jack gave me permission so…”

Neville raised an eyebrow at him, “And? What did you find out?”

“Well it turns out Lucia’s muggle file is a lot bigger than her wizarding one,” Harry said, “From the age of 11, she was a perfect student. She was sorted into Ravenclaw, described as solitary and exceptionally bright by her teachers. She missed her fourth year because of the war. She didn’t know she was a pureblood, but because she had been raised in the muggle world, she wasn’t allowed to return to Hogwarts. Even then, she got straight O’s in her O.W.L’s.”

Neville nodded, “So she’s like Lilly, then?”

“Lilly, or Hermione, if they hadn’t had people like Ron and us,” Harry interjected, “Imagine Lilly with just books, no friends.”

“She’d be scarily smart,” Neville said with a frown.

“And what’s the other way we describe Lil?” Harry prodded, “Highly logical.”

“So combine highly logical and scary smart with no friends, and no social life,” Draco said, “And what do you get?”

“Tom Riddle,” Neville answered.

“Yeah,” Harry sighed, “There is one difference, I think, well…I’m hoping anyway.”

Elizabeth smiled, “You are very good at character profiling, you know? You’re getting a lot out of a few files.”

“I spent years during the war having to get a lot out of very little information,” Harry admitted with an amused smile, “But thank you.”

“What’s the difference?” Rob asked.

Harry shrugged Rob’s feet off of him and got up, “Tom Riddle was inherently evil. Some people say that it’s because he was conceived under the influence of a love potion, but I don’t know how much stock we can put into that. Children can be conceived through rape and still grow up to be perfectly good people, it’s all in how a person is raised, and Tom Riddle never knew love. The muggle care system _has_ improved a lot since the 1920s…”

“I know you like telling stories with big pauses for dramatic effect,” Rob said with a yawn, “But it’s after midnight so could you maybe, just this once, cut to the chase?”

Harry shot Rob a grin, “Sorry Rob, but when the story is relevant, it needs to be told.”

Neville sat down in the seat Harry had just vacated, “Carry on then.”

“Lucia was born in Salisbury Hospital in Wiltshire,” Harry began, “Which was another sign that she is Lucius and Almina’s daughter.”

“It’s a stone throw from both Nott and Malfoy Manor,” Draco admitted, “And I suspect while they had the affair, they used the secret passageway that connects the houses. It goes through the cave system underneath the land. It was a natural feature, but Thaddeus used it to connect the houses when he moved Nott Manor to Wiltshire.”

“Still can’t believe your grandfathers were _that_ gay,” Rob snorted.

“Not the time,” Harry said, giving Rob a pointed look, “After her birth, Lucia was abandoned. A nurse came in and found a note that said, _“Please find a good home for her because I cannot ensure her safety.”_ The nurses assumed that Almina had been raped and therefore, couldn’t raise the child. They arranged for her to be sent to an orphanage nearby.”

“The one thing I don’t know is why she felt she had to abandon the baby,” Draco cut in, “The way Theo always told the story…it seemed like my father was in love with Almina. They had talked about running away together, so if that was how they felt…why did Almina not feel like she could grab Theo and run away with my Father to have the baby?”

“Multiple reasons,” Harry said, “Could be as simple as this: she was in an abusive relationship with Alfred Nott. She may have felt like even Lucius couldn’t help her escape from that. She might have felt that he would find them one day and kill them all. In her own way, maybe she gave Lucia up to protect her _and_ Theo.”

Sumner frowned and looked over at Draco, “It’s worse than that son, and I’m sorry, but I do feel like you ought to know the truth.”

Draco looked up, “What do you mean, sir?”

“Your father was not a good man; you know that,” Sumner said, “I arrested him enough times, had people following him, tracked his movements…I learned things about him while I was doing that. I very much doubt he loved Almina. I suspect he pretended that he did because he was always very good at putting up an act. He portrayed himself as a perfect husband and father, but nobody knew what went on behind closed doors.”

Draco’s knuckles went white where he was gripping the edge of his armchair.

“Almina might have thought he loved her, but I doubt that he did. She was probably just something on the side for him,” Sumner finished, “He had the perfect trophy wife. She had given him a male heir, she did everything he asked, played the part at every party when he required her. He wouldn’t give that up, so when Almina told him that she was pregnant, I suspect he cast her out.”

Draco swallowed a lump in his throat and shook his head, “He was a fucking bastard,” he hissed.

Summer didn’t say any more on the subject. Harry sighed and said, “Either way, Lucia was taken to an orphanage. She was never adopted, but a minister and his wife took her in and fostered her. She stayed with them until she was four then she lost her temper, and a glass window shattered. The minister's wife said her eyes glowed red, so they thought she was a demon and turfed her back to the orphanage.”

“Accidental magic,” Rob said with a shake of his head, “It’s the worst part of being a magical kid in a muggle orphanage, especially when religious figures are involved.”

A dark look passed across his eyes that Harry often saw when Rob brought up his childhood.

“From that point, Lucia bounced around foster homes,” Harry said, “She didn’t act out like most kids in that situation do. She wasn’t angry or aggressive; she was quiet and cold. She only talked when she needed to, she lost herself in books and isolated herself. Other kids at muggle school called her a freak or a demon, but after that first burst of accidental magic at four, she never had another one.”

“She’s cold, logical and smart,” Draco said quietly, “She’s incredibly dangerous.”

“Imagine a dark Daphne with Lilly’s brains,” Neville said to Harry.

“Dark Daphne…scary but also kind of hot,” Harry remarked.

“Yeah, she would also be totally evil,” Draco said irritably.

“I know,” Harry said, tapping his fingers against the file in his hands, “Lucia got her Hogwarts letter and spent her summers in orphanages or with temporary carers. The big whammy comes during the year she was forced to spend in the muggle world during the war.”

Elizabeth’s eyes darkened, “Oh…no.”

“Yeah,” Harry sighed, rubbing his eyes as he said, “The foster family she ended up with that year were fucked up. The father abused her, the report goes into a lot of detail, but if you feel that it’s relevant, you can read it yourself. It went on for a couple of months and then a gas explosion went off at the house, killing the foster parents but leaving Lucia remarkably unharmed.”

“Accidental magic?”

Harry nodded and opened up another file, the ministry had to get involved obviously, but Voldemort was running it at the time. The report commends her for using her magic to kill ‘worthless, muggle scum.’

“For fucks sake,” Neville cried, “She killed two people at fourteen and got told “well done” by the ministry?”

“That’s got to be when something clicked,” John agreed.

“She decided to become an Auror to repent for what she did, found out that she was a pureblood and then it unravels from there?” Elizabeth suggested.

The others nodded because this seemed as good a guess as any.

“It’s got to be her,” Harry said, “She works in Organised Crime which has always been the best department for dirty Aurors. They can worm their way in with the criminals, and they can control everything.”

“You’re right, Harry,” Sumner said with a sigh, “But there is one glaring issue.”

“Which is?”

“She’s not here,” Sumner said, “On Monday she left for two weeks on annual leave.”

“For fuck sake.”

“You’ve got to be kidding?”

Draco and Neville respectfully said.

“Well, where the hell would she have gone?” Harry asked, “She had no family.”

“Or friends,” Neville said, “She talked to everyone but she never really engaged in the friendly banter that most teams have got going on.”

“What about her Auror partner?” Elizabeth asked, “Dodds, isn’t it?”

“Dobbs,” Harry answered, “But I don’t think her and Emma are that friendly.”

“They aren’t,” Neville said, “Emma said that they kept it professional because they were very different.”

“Sometimes it pays you know? You being the department gossip,” Harry joked.

Neville chucked one of the couch cushions at him, but Harry ducked and shot Neville a smirk.

“Let’s think about this…she works in Organised Crime…so who is she going to be working with?”

“Seamus,” Neville said.

At the same time, Draco said, “Finnigan.”

Harry turned to Draco, “Okay, why?”

“Because he’s behind most of the organised crime in the wizarding world right now,” Draco said irritably, “Illegal love potions, pop-up brothels, it all leads back to him. Merlin knows what else that fucking idiot is into.”

“I was going to say the same thing but more politely,” Neville admitted in amusement.

“Alright, Nev,” Harry said, turning to his best friend, “You knew him best in school. Where would he go to hide out? Or set up a base? Would he stick to London or go rural?”

Neville frowned, “I don’t know… I mean he’s half-Scottish because his mum was a MacDougall, but he was raised in Ireland because his dad’s Irish. He was always banging on about Ireland, _my Ireland_ , he always said. He was worse than Rob with his hill in Kildare.”

“I regret telling you idiots about that,” Rob muttered.

“Shh,” Elizabeth hushed Rob, “Ireland makes sense.”

“A lot of sense,” Sumner agreed, “We focus so much of our resources on London that we don’t think to look that far afield, but Ireland is under the jurisdiction of the British Ministry of Magic too…”

“So he’s in Ireland, and he’s what, her lapdog?” Draco asked with a snort, “Fucking typical isn’t it?”

“Seamus tried to kill Draco when we were in our eighth year,” Harry said by way of explanation.

“It was a stupid prank gone wrong,” Neville said, “And he was expelled for it, then disowned by the MacDougalls.”

“So he went back to Ireland, to his dad,” Harry realised, “His parents weren’t together, were they?”

“No, they split up when he was young,” Neville answered.

“If he’s half-Scottish how come he’s got such a strong Irish accent?” Draco asked curiously.

“He idolises his dad,” Neville said with a roll of his eyes.

John, who had disappeared a few minutes earlier, stepped out of the filing room and said, “Well Seamus’s father is a muggle, so all we know comes from what’s on Seamus’s birth certificate which is that he’s called Declan Finnigan and that he was living in Dublin when Seamus was born.”

“So he’s a Dublin boy, like Wolfie,” Harry said, looking at his colleague.

“Which means I’m the prime candidate to go undercover,” Rob guessed.

“Yep,” John said, “Has to be you. You’re Irish, so you’ll fit in, and you know the lay of the land.”

“Whose partnering me then?” Rob asked, looking around the room, “Can’t be pretty boy, he’s far too involved.”

“And he can’t do an Irish accent to save himself,” John cut in, “Sorry, Draco.”

Draco just shrugged.

“It’s got to be you, Harry,” Neville said, “And I know it’s the last thing you’ll want to do with Thea being so young, but you do an impeccable impression of Rob.”

“You do,” John agreed.

“You’re the only one who can do a passible enough Irish accent,” Sumner agreed.

“My wife is going to kill me for this; you realise that, yeah?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow, “I mean my kid is a week old and I’m pissing off to Dublin? It’s bad enough that I gave up my paternity leave to try and track these bastards down.”

“You chose to do that,” Sumner reminded Harry, “Nobody would have begrudged you taking a weeks leave.”

“I know, but how could I with all of this going on?” Harry shrugged, “Daphne understands, she knows how involved I am in the job.”

“Just don’t get too involved,” Neville said, “Or she’ll stop understanding.”

Harry could only nod in response.

“Right then,” Sumner said, “How sure are we that Cross does not have any other dirty Aurors on her side?”

“I don’t ever like to say I’m certain,” Neville confessed, “But I am relatively certain.”

“Which means while she’s on annual leave we should be safe to pursue this in the office,” Sumner said with a nod, “But I am calling a taskforce. As far as everyone else is aware, we have a new lead on Finnigan, and you are the team I’ve assembled to catch him. We’ll bring anyone else in if we need to, but for the moment our London team consists of Sheppard, Black and Longbottom. Elizabeth, you are going to have to keep CPS running I’m afraid.”

“I understand sir,” Elizabeth replied.

“And our Ireland team consists of Wolfe and Potter,” Sumner finished, “We frequently liaise with Patronuses but make sure you properly encrypt them. Understood?”

“Understood.”

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	7. It's a Broken Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we finally get a scene from Theo's perspective!
> 
> The chapter title comes from the song:  
> What If I Never Get Over You? by Lady A.

Theo didn’t know how long he had been in here for anymore. To begin with, he had been able to keep track of the days. He had scratched marks onto the floor with a sharp stone that he had found. After he got to seven, he stopped counting.

That was when the blackouts started. It was partly due to hunger, but mostly due to the physical strain that his body was under. He could barely see through his right eye; it was so swollen from where Seamus had punched him during the previous day's torture session. He liked to mix it up, magic with physical torture. He had jeered at Theo and said, _“You purebloods don’t know how to get things done the muggle way, do ya?”_

The muggle way hurt, but not as much as his father had been able to make magic hurt. He had been through this before, the hunger, the pain, it was just like being back in the Dark Tower. Not that it was made any easier for that mind you if anything it made it harder. He knew how close he had gotten to dying in there before Sadie and Draco got him out.

He felt a pang in his chest when he thought of them. Sadie who would be worried sick, trying to fumble through and keep the twins on track. Draco who would be ripping himself to shreds with guilt as he had done in the war and Hermione, who Theo hoped was holding them together in his absence.

The room he was locked in was tiny. It was square, and if he sat with his back against one wall, his feet almost touched the opposite one. The ceiling was so low that he could only stand up if he stooped. Three of the walls had a large cross carved into the stone, and the fourth wall had a great steel door upon it. It looked old, Theo guessed that wherever they were was a ruin of some sort and he was definitely being kept underground.

It was cold, the air was stagnant, and it stunk. Water dripped down in one corner of the room; it pooled there before eventually trickling down the tiny drainage hole. Theo had tried everything he could think of to get out in the first few days, but whoever had designed this prison, had designed it well. It was how he knew that Seamus was the lapdog, not the boss.

He had gotten one hell of a beating when he asked who the real boss was. Seamus had lost his temper, and Theo thought he might have killed him, but he managed to restrain himself somehow. Ever since then, Seamus had referred to whoever was in charge as the boss and had assured Theo that he would get to meet them soon.

“ _Oh good,”_ Theo had replied sarcastically.

After day four of his imprisonment, Theo had given up on trying to find a way out. He had no wand, and his magical core had obviously been drained because he couldn’t do any wandless magic. At first, he thought the room was heavily warded, but Seamus could do magic, and even then, Theo couldn’t manage a weak stupefy wandlessly which was unusual for him. That begged the question, of course, who knew how to drain a person's magical core? Well, there were only two professions where that was taught; Aurors learned how to do it in training, and he expected that Healers knew how to do it since they were trained in reversing the process by restoring someone’s magical power. It took weeks, of course, months sometimes and when a person had been drained of magic for some time, they sometimes never got all of it back.

Anyway, with magic out of the question, he started to look for weaknesses in the stone, but there were none. This place was like Fort Knox, and the door was warded to hell and back. He could feel the intense buzz of magic around it at all times.

Theo stared at the door, trying to think of how long it had been now. How long since he portkeyed straight into this basement and was flung into this cell before he had even raised his wand to fight. All he knew was that the person had worn a black cloak, pulled up right around their face and that the voice had sounded female.

Theo started when the door opened. He sat up straight, expecting Seamus to walk in and crack his knuckles ominously. The idiot would have been great friends with Crabbe and Goyle if he had been in Slytherin.

However, it wasn’t Seamus. It was someone who Theo recognised the instant he laid eyes on her. His eyes widened, and she smirked in response.

"Y...you?"

"Me," Lucia agreed smoothly, “You know who I am then?”

“Of course I know who you are,” Theo remarked, “You’re Junior Auror Cross. You work in Organised Crime.”

“Ah and here was me thinking that nobody noticed me,” She said with a smile, “I suppose it makes sense that you did. Between the hair and the glasses, I do look rather like your pretty wife, don’t I?”

Theo swallowed, “Don’t talk about her.”

“Why? Do you miss her?” The woman asked, her eyes mocked him, “That’s cute. I doubt she misses you very much. She seemed rather cosy with your best friend when I last saw her.”

Theo’s eyes flashed dangerously.

She smirked, “I don’t suppose you know my first name, do you?”

“Lucy,” Theo returned.

“People do tend to call me that,” She said with a solemn nod, “Mostly because people at the orphanage didn’t know how to say Lucia. They would say, _what a strange name_ or, _is it Italian?_ How the hell was I supposed to know? I’ve never met the woman who gave it to me.”

“I’m sorry about that,” Theo said honestly, “But do you fancy telling me why you’ve kidnapped me?”

Lucia laughed, “I haven’t kidnapped you. I didn’t need to, did I? You walked right in here, well portkeyed in actually. Oh, it’s all worked out great.”

Theo narrowed his eyes at her,

“You grabbed the portkey and walked straight into my base which is perfect because you are going to be so useful,” Lucia said with a smile, “And in the process, you blew Demetrius to pieces. Thank you for that. I am positive that he was about to betray me.”

Theo watched Lucia nervously as she continued, “Oh Knockturn Alley is going to be redeveloped as well which fits in with my plans _perfectly_ and to top it all off, as far as the wizarding world is concerned, you killed yourself in the process.”

“What?” Theo snapped.

“Oh sweetie,” Lucia smiled, “Haven’t you wondered why nobody has come for you yet? It’s because nobody is looking.”

“I…” Theo frowned, “What is going on? Why are you….like this?”

“I know, I don’t seem the type, do I?” Lucia asked, leaning against the door, which was now closed, “Sweet little Lucy with her glasses and her big brains. What a shy little Ravenclaw. Not the kind of person who anyone would expect to revolutionise the world.”

“Revolutionise the world? Are you insane?” Theo snorted.

“No, just highly perceptive and very intelligent,” Lucia remarked calmly, “Which is why I can see things that others overlook. Seamus here, he shares my vision. He’s a little violent for my liking, but I can see his point, violence does get things done.”

Theo glared at her, "How the hell did you get through Auror training? How did you get into the ministry?"

"Because when they think that you might be dirty, they look for any connection to Voldemort. They look for signs that you hate Muggles,” Lucia said calmly, “I was tested with veritaserum. I passed with flying colours because I _am_ happy that Voldemort is dead, I have no affiliation with him, and yes, I think muggles are scum, but there are just as many wizards who are scum too.”

“How did you pass a selection test to get into training then?” Theo countered.

“I passed my selection test with flying colours because I had no idea who I was then, but I will tell you _that_ story in due course,” Lucia promised him, “Right now, I will answer your question. There is one thing that nobody considers when they vet you for Auror training or when they test you before letting you work at the ministry.”

“And what’s that?” Theo asked coldly.

Lucia smirked, "They don't ask if you hate purebloods and I do, I really do."

"Why?"

Lucia fixed her grey eyes on Theo’s, and sweet Salazar, did they look like Draco’s.

“Why do I hate purebloods? Oh, the list is endless. They are corrupt, and I think most of them are inherently evil. They have too much wealth, too much power. Our world is run by the Wizengamot or as we should call it, the rich purebloods. They make every decision, _every single one_ and they get away with everything, even murder.”

Theo’s eyes flashed angrily.

“Just look at you, Theodore Nott. You’re a former Death Eater,” Lucia said, “But you’re an Auror now. Nice house, cute kids, sweet wife – oh sorry, widow. You didn’t pay for your actions just like Draco Malfoy didn’t pay for his. He changed his name and ran away from it all, and it is not right.”

“It’s the way things have always been,” Theo argued.

“Well, it isn’t the way things will be once I’ve ousted the purebloods from power,” Lucia said simply.

“Yeah, you and whose army?” Theo snorted.

“Oh that would be Seamus’s,” Lucia said, surveying Theo with cold precision, “He has the resources and the men. I have the intellect and skill. Together we do make quite a fine team. He runs almost everything illegal in Britain, and when I started working in Organised Crime, it wasn’t hard to strike a deal.”

Theo shook his head in disbelief, “Why are you telling me all of this? You know I’ll relay it all to my team when they get me out.”

“Honey,” Lucia laughed, “You aren’t getting out. Everyone thinks you are dead. Nobody is looking for you.”

Theo shook his head, “Draco wouldn’t give up on me that easily. He didn’t before; he spent two weeks trying to get me out.”

“Ah yes, Draco,” Lucia said, a sly smile on her lips, “Your boyfriend, right?”

“Best friend.”

“What’s the difference when it’s two purebloods?” Lucia said, “I overhear a lot in our department and boy, don’t people just love to bitch about other Aurors? You live next door to each other; you have an adjoining door in your basement.”

Theo swallowed, “We’re best friends.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Lucia shrugged, “But personally, I think he’s in love with you. He all but said it at your funeral. It was a beautiful eulogy by the way. So many people cried, oh your kids, they were distraught.”

“Shut up!” Theo roared.

Lucia grinned, “Now this is better! I like it when they start feisty. It makes it all the more fun to break them down! Now, I think it’s time to tell you a little story, but I find a combination of show and tell works best.”

Theo remained silent as Lucia flicked her wand towards the wall to the right of them, projecting a memory onto the screen.

Theo swallowed when he saw the coffin being led up the country lane towards Nott Manor.

“They gave you the full state funeral,” Lucia said, “I was there, of course, we all were. Lovely house your step-mother has and your sister is beautiful, isn’t she? Not when shes crying obviously but still…”

Theo felt tears burn in his eyes as he looked at Lacey. Tears streamed down her face as she held Salvadora’s hand. In front of them were Sadie and Hermione, and seeing them broke Theo’s heart. Neither of them looked that well; they were both pale with bloodshot eyes and bags beneath them. The twins looked solemn as they walked with Sadie and Hermione. Charlus looked too grown up in the black dress robes he had been forced into, and Almina kept her gaze down as she walked along in a black dress, her long, blonde hair flowing behind her.

“Let’s fast forward to the good bit,” Lucia chirped. She twisted her wrist, and the memory moved quickly, skipping through the service for the most part. She stopped it again as Draco began to give his eulogy.

Theo had to fight to stop himself from crying as he watched Draco try his hardest not to break down while he delivered the eulogy. What he had said was beautiful, it was as close as saying ‘I love you’ as Draco would ever get in front of someone other than himself, Hermione or Sadie.

“So you see?” Lucia asked him, “They think you’re dead. In fact, they are so sure that you are dead that one of them named a child after you.”

Theo looked up, “What?”

“Potter’s wife went into labour at your wake,” Lucia remarked, “There was a commotion down in the summerhouse, a fight probably. People always fight at funerals. Anyway, Potter brought her into the office a couple of days later to introduce her to the Aurors.”

“See?”

Another memory began to play out on the wall in front of them.

_“Ah, here she is!” John said with a grin, “Potter baby, number four!”_

_“I know, I’m a sucker for punishment, right?” Harry laughed as their colleagues all gathered around._

_“You got another girl then Harry?” Oliver asked with a smile._

_“Yeah, two boys and two girls,” Harry said, “We’re definitely down now because you can’t get much fairer than that.”_

_“She got a name?” Sorenson asked._

_“Yeah,” Harry said, catching Sorenson's eye, “I reckon we’ll call her Thea more often than not, but her full name is Theodora.”_

_Sorenson swallowed and looked away from Harry._

_“I reckon he’d be bloody honoured,” Neville said, smiling sadly at Harry._

_John nodded, “He was a damn good Auror. I don’t think anyone in this department had a bad thing to say about him.”_

_“He was a bit of a joker at times, but he was a good man,” Cameron agreed, “We’re happy we had the pleasure of working with him, aren’t we Oliver?”_

_Oliver nodded, “I said as much to Fee when Shep called in his death.”_

_John bowed his head, “Well, we can’t wet the babies head because we’re all on duty, but we’ve all got a coffee, haven’t we?”_

_Harry laughed as they all raised their coffee mugs and said, “To Theo, and Theodora.”_

_“You off on your paternity leave for a couple of weeks then mate?” John asked Harry._

_Harry shook his head, “Nah, I’ve stayed off for a couple of days to help Daphne settle, and I’ve got a big charity gala this weekend for Lupin House, but I’ll be back on Monday.”_

_“Harry, that’s four days,” Aiden said, “You can’t come back four days after your missus has had a kid.”_

_“I can, and I need to,” Harry said, “I need to catch the people who did this to Theo and Daphne understands that.”_

_“Alright,” John conceded, “But if you change your mind, we understand.”_

Theo wiped his eyes hastily. He hadn’t expected that and especially not from Harry and Daphne who he had never felt that close to in comparison with some of his other friends.

“So you see? You’re dead to them, and people don’t go looking for a dead man.”

“Why am I alive then?” Theo asked angrily, “Why not just kill me and be done with it?”

“I can’t kill you,” Lucia said, “You’re far too useful to me. You’re a pureblood encyclopedia. You know who they all are. You know their dirty secrets; you know who is related to who. You are invaluable.”

“I won’t tell you anything,” Theo hissed, “So you might as well kill me.”

“You think you won’t,” Lucia said with a smirk, “But the time I’m done, I’m sure you will be spilling your guts to me. Under the influence of an imperius curse, no doubt.”

“I can resist the imperius curse,” Theo told her, a hint of his usual smugness coming out.

“You won’t be able to by the time I’m done with you,” Lucia remarked, “So are you ready to hear my story? You never know, _maybe_ you and I think more alike than you know. I may not even have to imperius you to get you to agree with me.”

Theo laughed humourlessly, “I highly doubt that but go on, I do love a good story.”

Lucia flicked her wand at the wall once more, “Well, my story begins in the same way that every tragic villains does,” she remarked sarcastically, “I was abandoned.”

“That’s very sad,” Theo said, just as sarcastically, “I saw my mother die as a child, but that didn’t turn me into a psychopath, did it?”

“Interesting that you should mention that,” Lucia said slyly, “But please don’t interrupt. It’s ever so rude.”

Theo rolled his eyes, “Oh, do forgive me.”

Lucia ignored his comment and continued, “I was born in Salisbury Hospital and abandoned. Then I was farmed off to a local orphanage and raised by a minister and his wife. That was okay; they were nice enough until I got in trouble one day and the window behind me smashed to pieces. I couldn’t explain what had happened, but they thought I was a demon, so they threw me back into the orphanage.”

Theo watched her with interest as she told her tale, “When you’re four years old, nobody wants to adopt you, so I ended up with a different foster parent every few months. They all say they want to rescue you, they want to make you better, but I didn’t need to be made better. There was nothing wrong with me; I just didn’t speak to them because I didn’t think they deserved my respect.”

Lucia sat down on the floor opposite Theo, “Then I got my Hogwarts letter, and McGonagall explained that I was a witch. She gave me some money and told me how to get to Diagon Alley, so I went to get my school supplies, on my own.”

Theo bit back a sarcastic remark.

“I went to school, and I was sorted into Ravenclaw,” Lucia said as the memory played out, “Oh look, there you are.”

Theo had been trying to determine what age Lucia was, and it looked like she had started her first year when he started his fourth.

“Hell of a year, wasn’t it?” Lucia asked, “Harry Potter tried to get himself killed, Draco Malfoy hid in trees and showed off when he walked by. Did you ever get jealous? I really thought those two might shag one day.”

Theo rolled his eyes in response.

Lucia continued, “Of course, being at school with you, I saw all of your lover's tiffs with your boyfriend. My third year was the best for that. Every time I was in the dungeons, you and Draco were whispering in an alcove, always standing _very_ close to each other. Your wives must be very accepting people.”

“Shut up,” Theo ground out.

Lucia smirked, “Touched a nerve, did I? Mind you, what else did you do a lot of in your sixth year? Girls, mainly. How many of those poor girls you dragged into broom closets regret that now, do you think?”

“I was a different person back then,” Theo said evasively.

“Or you’re just hiding your true nature now,” Lucia shrugged, “It doesn’t surprise me because all of you purebloods are the same. You want it all, you want a wife and kids but a guy on the side. You want a wife and a kid but another woman on the side, which is fine until you knock that woman up.”

Theo narrowed his eyes at her.

“That’s _my_ story,” Lucia said firmly, “Anyway, I missed a year of school while you fought your war. It was the worst year of my life, but you don’t need to know about that. I came back, applied myself and got my N.E.W.T’s a year early. Then I joined the Aurors, all the way back in 2000.”

Theo said nothing, so Lucia continued, “That was when the truth about my life began to unravel. I had to have a blood test as part of my physical and the words that came out of Keller's mouth then…oh, they changed my future path. Such simple words, _You do know you’re a pureblood, don’t you honey?”_

“I had no idea I was a pureblood,” Lucia said, “I thought I was a muggle-born. I asked her how I could find out who my parents were, and she said that I could find my birth certificate at St. Mungo’s so I went and had a look. I didn’t find out much though, just that my mother's name was Almina Cross and that she had been living in Wiltshire when I was born. The information about my father was all blank.”

Theo swallowed as realisation began to dawn.

“Oh, you _are_ the smart one,” Lucia grinned, “When did you begin to suspect?”

“Alarm bells rang when you told me that you were called Lucia,” Theo admitted, “And the minute I looked into your eyes, I recognised them.”

“My eyes?” Lucia asked, raising an eyebrow.

“They are just like Draco’s,” Theo said quietly.

“Ah yes, and you do stare into his eyes soulfully, don’t you?” Lucia grinned, “You are going to be so useful. I like Seamus, but it will be nice to have some academic company again.”

“I will never join you,” Theo assured her, “No matter how much you torture me.”

Lucia just smiled and continued, “As I was saying, I thought it was a dead-end, but then I read the newspaper one morning and saw a headline about “Almina’s Law”. I read the story; it was heartwarming. Her son, Theodore, had put forward the case and cried when the Wizengamot passed the law. All because her husband had killed her and he had gotten away with it. Something seemed fishy there and the name Almina Crouch sounded far too similar to Almina Cross to be a coincidence. A little bit of research proved that I was right, the surname “Crouch” comes from the old word “cruc” or “cross”. All the same, knowing that she was my mother didn’t help. She was dead, and I still had no idea who my father was. She must have had an affair. If it had been her husband's child, why would she have left me in the hospital?”

Theo visibly swallowed.

"So I got through Auror training, passed all of the tests they threw at me and graduated. Then I was given a placement in Organised Crime which was when all of the truth began to spiral out."

Lucia looked over at Theo and smirked, "I think we should watch the memory of how I found out together. It's a rather good movie, actually."

"I highly doubt that," Theo said under his breath.

"Oh, but it is, Theodore," Lucia said with a smile, "Because the person who sold you out is the last person you would expect. But loose lips sink ships, don't they? And oh boy, did your brother-in-law blow the biggest hole in yours."

Theo swallowed as a memory played out before them.

_"Cross, Dobbs! Liaise with Nott and Black on this one," Sorenson ordered._

_"Good luck with that," Blaine snorted, "The two loverboys themselves."_

_Blanche rolled her eyes, "Don't be petty Blaine."_

_"Why does everyone call them that?" Emma, Lucia's Auror partner, asked, "They both have wives and kids."_

_"Yeah but they're also both like their grandparents," Blaine said with a roll of his eyes, "Everyone knew Abraxas Malfoy was shagging Thaddeus Nott."_

_"So what if he was?" Blanche asked_

_"Yeah, Draco and Theo are both married happily. They both have kids," Ophelia agreed, "Don't judge them based on what their ancestors did."_

_"You don't get the moral high-ground here, Blanche," Blaine said, "You're fucking our brother's wife."_

_"Half-brother!"_

_"Still!"_

_"Look does it matter if she is? She's happy, Ginny's happy, and Blaise doesn’t care. Draco and Theo are happy. Evan and I are happy even though no Auror here respects me because I'm the girl who slept with her trainer," Ophelia snapped, "Stay out of people's personal lives, alright?"_

_"Agreed," Sorenson said with a nod._

_Lucia frowned as the office began to empty, leaving just her, Emma and Sorenson._

_"What's up, Cross?"_

_Lucia looked up at Sorenson, "Oh, I was just thinking about what you said about Black and Nott. I didn't realise there had been a thing between their grandparents."_

_"And their parents," Sorenson remarked, "It's a badly kept secret that Lucius Malfoy was screwing Alfred Nott's wife. It's probably why Alfred killed Almina, but only Theo would know about that. He was there when it happened, after all."_

_Lucia looked up in alarm, "He saw his mother die?"_

_"Yeah, when he was a kid," Sorenson said, "Look I've said too much already. Get to work, Cross."_

"Of course, once I realised that Almina had been sleeping with Lucius Malfoy, it wasn't hard to connect the dots. I felt rather stupid for not being able to work it out actually,” Lucia with a roll of her eyes, “I mean a little bit of research into my name proves that I was named after my father. Lucia is a Roman name, and it’s the feminine form of Lucius.”

"No," Theo said with a shake of his head.

"Yes," Lucia said, “And then there’s my appearance, I do look like _him_ , don’t I? Blonde hair, grey eyes. But I took this from you earlier, just to confirm it.”

Theo looked at the vial of blood in her hands.

“And I knew you would doubt me so I thought we could do this together,” Lucia said. She conjured up a wooden holder and placed the vial in it. Then she took an empty one from her pocket and whispered a healing spell. It drew a string of blood from her arm that magically transferred itself into the empty vial.

Lucia cast a spell which boiled the blood and then another which was a basic DNA matching charm.

“If we’re siblings, we’ll find out soon enough,” Lucia said.

Theo watched the blood nervously as steam rose from each vial. Lucia’s was pale blue, and Theo’s was silver. When the two colours began to weave around each other to form a DNA symbol, Theo cursed.

Lucia laughed, “Just as I thought. You and your boyfriend are my brothers.”

“Half-brothers,” Theo corrected.

Lucia raised an eyebrow at him, “Well, well, haven’t you been learning from Blanche?”

Theo stared resolutely at her, “Is story-time over then? No warm milk and a blanket?”

“Your boyfriend always did say that your big mouth would get you killed one day,” Lucia said with a roll of her eyes, “Let’s do something about that.”

She cast a dark spell that made his mouth disappear, leaving just skin where it had been moments earlier.

“Better,” Lucia said cheerfully, “Now. Let’s see how good you are at Occlumency. Legilimens!”

* * *

By the time Harry got home, it was closer to 6 am than midnight. He slipped into the house as quietly as he could and tiptoed upstairs to make sure that he didn’t wake anyone up. It was all in vain anyway because when he pushed open the door to the bedroom, Daphne was awake.

She looked up when she heard the door open, “What time do you call this?” she joked sleepily.

He smiled apologetically, “I’m sorry. Is Thea still acting like a starved child?”

Daphne yawned, “Uh-huh. That was her fifth feed tonight, or maybe it's six. I might have fallen asleep during one of them.”

Harry snorted, “Yeah well, you learned your lesson with Andie, didn’t you? That’s why you feed her lying down.”

Daphne looked down at the sleeping infant who was lying next to her with her mouth slightly ajar, “She’s in a milk induced coma.”

Harry chuckled, “Want me to pop her back in the bassinet?”

Daphne just nodded, so Harry gently lifted their daughter and resettled her. When she had stopped wriggling, he stripped down to his boxers and got into bed with Daphne.

“How bad is it?” Daphne asked quietly.

“What d’you mean?” Harry asked, closing his eyes and breathing in the scent of her shampoo.

“You don’t tend to send cryptic Patronuses and work til after 3 am unless it’s bad,” Daphne said in a whisper.

“We know who has Theo,” Harry admitted, “And we have a city, but it’s a big city, and they could be anywhere.”

“Who has him?” Daphne asked.

“Dirty Auror,” Harry replied, “She’s called Lucia Cross which is a play on her parents' names. It translates into Lucius Crouch.”

Daphne’s eyes widened, “You mean…?”

“Your Aunt Almina had another child,” Harry yawned, “With Lucius Malfoy. She was abandoned at the hospital that she was born in. Then she was raised in the foster care system. She went to Hogwarts, became a Ravenclaw and has no friends. Basic character profiling would suggest she’s very clever, highly logical and insanely-”

“-dangerous,” Daphne finished.

“Yeah,” Harry sighed, “Which is why first thing tomorrow, I need to pack a bag, say goodbye to the kids and go to Dublin.”

“Dublin?” Daphne muttered.

“Seamus is her lapdog,” Harry explained.

“Of course he is.”

“I don’t want to do it,” Harry admitted, “Thea isn’t even two weeks old yet, and I’m back at work which is bad enough but going to Dublin for Merlin knows how long…”

“Was there nobody else?” Daphne asked. She knew that he would tell her the truth.

“No,” Harry answered, “It’s undercover, so Rob was the obvious choice since he’s from Dublin and I’m-”

“-the only one who can do an Irish accent,” Daphne realised.

“Yeah,” Harry sighed, “You’re not going to hold it against me, are you?”

“It’s to get Theo home,” Daphne reminded him, “How could I ever hold that against you?”

Harry smiled and said no more on the subject. All he said as he felt himself drifting into an uneasy slumber was, “I love you.”

* * *

Draco woke up very early the next morning, despite his lack of sleep the night before. When he stepped into the kitchen of number 12, he was unsurprised to find it occupied. Nobody had been sleeping well since Theo’s death/disappearance.

“Morning, love,” Hermione said, stifling a yawn.

“Coffee?” Sadie asked.

Draco nodded and sat down at the table, “Are the kids still asleep? Apart from the little one.”

“Of course they are,” Sadie said as she shuffled Caspian in her arms, “I’ll have to wrestle the twins awake for school, you know what they are like.”

Hermione put a cup of coffee down in front of him, and he managed to smile gratefully at her.

“Did you come home last night?” Hermione asked, looking at his bloodshot eyes.

“Yes, but it was late,” Draco answered, “It was after 3 am. I checked in on you, but when I saw you two fast asleep, I just slept in the spare room along the hall.”

“Sadie had a bad night last night,” Hermione said, smiling sympathetically at her friend, “She came through around midnight. The twins were already here anyway. I’d offered to have them for the night so she could catch up on sleep.”

“I did wonder,” Draco said, stifling a yawn, “How bad was your night?”

“Bad,” Sadie said with a frown, “I’ve been having nightmares ever since Sheppard told me that Theo was dead. He always felt distant in them, like he was a memory that was fading…but since you discovered that he was alive, they have been getting worse.”

“More vivid?” Hermione asked.

Sadie nodded, “Last night, he was being tortured. He was screaming, and when I woke up, I could still hear screams. It took me a minute to realise that _I_ was the one screaming. It was disconcerting.”

“So you came through here,” Draco said with a nod, “Good. I’d much rather you were snuggling with Hermione than trying to kiss me.”

“We’re not at the point of making jokes about that yet,” Hermione said, glaring at Draco.

“Yeah,” Sadie agreed, frowning down into her coffee, “We’re not.”

“Sorry,” Draco drawled, “But I did have a productive night last night. We found out who has Theo and having a solid lead feels good.”

“Who has him?” Hermione asked anxiously.

“A dirty Auror,” Draco replied, “She’s a Junior, she works in Organised Crime, and her name is Lucia Cross.”

“Lucia?” Hermione asked with a frown, “That’s the feminine form of Lucius, isn’t it?”

Sadie frowned too, “And Cross…that’s an unusual surname. It’s the American form of Crouch.”

“Yeah,” Draco said, looking between the two women, “I wish you two had been there last night. You’d have saved us a lot of time.”

Hermione’s eyes widened, “So this dirty Auror is your sister?”

“Half-sister,” Draco corrected.

“And Theo’s half-sister too,” Sadie realised with disbelief.

Draco nodded and looked down at his coffee, suddenly he didn’t feel that thirsty.

“How do you feel about that?” Hermione asked. She cast her concerned gaze over her husband.

“How do I feel about the fact my father a is a bastard who probably used Theo’s mother then abandoned her when he got her pregnant?” Draco asked bitterly, “Not great, surprisingly.”

“Don’t be snippy with us,” Hermione said irritably as she stalked over with Caspian’s bottle, “We’re trying to help you, don’t take it out on us.”

“I’ll feed him, Mione,” Sadie said, reaching out for the bottle.

“Thanks, Sade.”

“And sorry,” Draco admitted, “But it was a long night, and it’s just another nail in the coffin for my father. I’m starting to think that there was never any good in him, you know? And my mother…”

“If she had known, she would have told you or done something about it,” Hermione said firmly, “So do not go down that route.”

Sadie looked up thoughtfully as Caspian gulped down his milk. “She can’t be much younger than us, can she?”

Draco shook his head, “She was born the day before Almina died. That’s probably why Alfred murdered her. Maybe she was trying to grab Theo and run away to get her baby back, or maybe he just got suspicious, we’ll never know.”

“So she was three years below us in school?” Hermione asked.

Sadie shook her head, “If she was born just before Almina died, her birthday must be in November. She would have been sorted when we were starting our fourth year.”

Draco nodded, “We have no idea what her motives are or if she’s working with any other Aurors, so we’re keeping the task force very small. She’s on annual leave right now, and we think she’s with Seamus.”

Hermione scoffed, “Seamus? She has low standards, doesn’t she?”

“He runs half of the criminal underworld, love,” Draco reminded his wife, “If you’re a dirty Auror, he’s a good person to be in with.”

“What does she want with Theo?”

“I don’t know,” Draco confessed, “He portkeyed in there so maybe she has no use for him, but she’s an Auror. She must have some code of conduct, and Aurors do not hurt their own. She might be keeping him alive for information, or she might be trying to turn him dirty.”

“He won’t turn,” Sadie said fiercely.

“I know he won’t,” Draco agreed, “And that’s why we’ve got to get him out before she realises that. Hary and Rob are heading undercover to Dublin today with a possible lead on Seamus so with any luck; we’ll have something solid soon.”

He got to his feet and kissed Caspian on the forehead. Then he kissed Sadie on the cheek and kissed Hermione lightly on the lips.

“I love you, have a good day.”

“I love you too,” Hermione said, kissing him back, “Be careful and keep us in the loop.”

“I will,” Draco promised before he swept out of the door.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	8. What If It Never Gets Better?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title comes from the song:  
> What If I Never Get Over You? by Lady A.

As the Irish sea separated England and Ireland, it was inadvisable to apparate between the two islands without going through an apparition centre. That was why Harry and Rob met at the London Apparition Centre at the ungodly hour of 6 am that morning.

“I’m so fucking tired,” Rob muttered, “Jen hit me when I told her I was going to Dublin.”

Harry snorted, “What time did you tell her at?”

“5.30 am,” Rob answered, “But when else was I meant to do it? I didn’t get home till after 3 am for fuck sake!”

“Why did she hit you?”

“Because she jumped straight to the worst-case scenario,” Rob said with a roll of his eyes, “She was all, _you better not get drunk and fuck things up, Robert!_ ”

Harry shook his head in amusement as they stepped into the line.

“Daphne was okay with it,” Harry admitted, “I thought she’d be a bit grumpy, but she wasn’t. She was feeding Thea when I got in last night.”

“I don’t get why you don’t just give your kids a bottle, they sleep a damn sight better for it,” Rob admitted, “Jen tried breastfeeding with Nat then Liz gave her a bottle one night, and she slept for six hours, and we couldn’t go back.”

Harry chuckled, “I know, Al slept great as a baby compared to Andie and Thea. The thing is we had to bottle feed Al because she couldn’t feed him herself so with Andie and Thea, it’s something she _can_ do, and that’s why she enjoys it I guess.”

“When did we get so domestic?” Rob snorted, “Talking about boring shit like this?”

“Fuck knows,” Harry laughed, “Y’know the other reason she likes breastfeeding?”

“Do I want to know?”

“She swears that it makes the baby weight drop off and she’s not wrong,” Harry said, shooting Rob a grin, “She was turning eyes two weeks after Andie was born and she’s well on her way to having her figure back already after Thea. I think Hermione and Sadie kind of hate her…”

Rob laughed, but they stopped talking at that point because they had reached the front of the line. They had their wands checked, stated that they were travelling for work and then they were on their way.

When he emerged in Dublin, Harry was unimpressed by the Irish apparition centre. The room that he was in was simply a vaulted, underground chamber.

Rob appeared by his side a few minutes later and said, “Come on.”

Harry followed him through a steel door and stopped in his tracks when he realised that the Irish Apparition Centre was essentially a giant underground bar.

“Oh shit, you needing to get out of here?” Rob asked in jest, “You sweating? Gagging for a firewhiskey?”

“Fuck off, Rob,” Harry said, slipping straight into an Irish accent.

Rob did a double-take, “You _are_ good at that.”

Harry grinned in response, “Come on, even if I wasn’t a former alcoholic, I wouldn’t condone drinking at 6.30 am.”

“Yeah look, muggle cops aren’t going to be working at this time in the morning,” Rob said as he led Harry through the pub, “So can we go to an old haunt and get breakfast?”

“Sure,” Harry replied. He had followed Rob into a stairwell which they were currently climbing up. When they reached the top, Rob placed his hand on a steel door, and it swung open. Harry blinked in the sunlight and stepped out onto the street, “Where…are we…oh fuck me, are you serious?”

Rob grinned, “Welcome to Ireland.”

“Is it our Ireland, Rob?”

“Fuck off, Potter,” Rob said in a perfect English accent.

Harry looked over at his friend in surprise.

“Think you’re the only one who can do accents, eh?” Rob chuckled.

“But seriously, the Irish apparition centre is underneath the Guinness Brewery?” Harry asked as he jogged along to catch up with Rob.

“Course it is,” Rob said, “Makes the most sense, doesn’t it? Nobody notices some funny looking folk coming out because they’re all pissed.”

Harry chuckled, “True. Where are we going?”

“To see an old friend from the orphanage,” Rob said simply, “It’ll be great. He’s a muggle, and he’s got no idea who Harry fucking Potter is.”

“My middle name is James actually, Wolfie!”

* * *

“Your oldest friend is a priest?” Harry asked through his laughter as they made their way to Dublin Police HQ.

“Oh, shut up!”

“Seriously though? You, Robert ‘I shit myself when I see a nun’ Wolfe? You Robert ‘I fucking hate religion’ Wolfe? Your oldest friend is a bloody priest?”

“Yeah alright, laugh it up Potter,” Rob said with a roll of his eyes, “Not all of the guys I grew up with had an issue with the nuns, but I was different and weird. I accidentally burned kids eyebrows off when they insulted me. One time the orphanage bully, this little prick called Killian was chasing me and I tried to jump onto the shed to get away from him, then the next thing I know I’m scaling the building like fucking spiderman.”

Harry snorted, “You sure you’re not my dad? Because that sounds like my childhood. My aunt shaved my head, and I was freaking out about going to school. Then the next day all my hair was back, and this one time when I was running from my cousin and his friends I tried to jump onto the bins and ended up on the school roof.”

“Well, we are quite similar,” Rob agreed, “But I’m definitely not your dad because I’d remember shagging your mum. She was hot…”

“Yeah, kinda wish I hadn’t asked that question,” Harry said distastefully. He was grateful that they had reached the police HQ because it brought the conversation to an end. They entered the building, used fake ID’s and cover stories to get past security then headed upstairs.

“You boys the detectives from London?”

“Sure are,” Rob replied, “I’m Detective Rob Kildare, and this is Detective Harry O’Neill.”

“You don’t sound like you’re from London,” The PC said.

“Nah, I’m a Dublin boy,” Rob replied, “Born and raised. Harry here’s from Kilkenny.”

Harry nodded, “We both married Englishwomen so ended up settled over in London.”

“Ah,” The PC said, “Pleasure to have you back in the old country. I’m O’Flanagan, and I’m in charge here. London said a suspect in one of your cases is hiding out over here?”

“Aye,” Rob said with a nod, “We won’t be here long if we do our job right, but we’ll need an office to work in and access to your system.”

“You can use the back office,” O’Flanagan said, “And you boys give me a shout if you need anything. We’ll always help out our own.”

Rob nodded and thanked O’Flanagan. Then he led Harry into the ‘back office’ which was a glorified closet. They searched through some files until they found Declan Finnigans.

“Last known address,” Harry said triumphantly.

“Don’t get excited yet,” Rob warned him, “Not till we’ve verified it. And watch what you say around here. You can do the accent, but you don’t know the history of the country. There was a time when the IRA had infiltrated all the infrastructure, police included.”

Harry nodded, “Is that why you were the only one who could understand what Voldemort was doing in the second war?”

Rob shrugged, “I’d seen it done before I suppose, but it was also what Voldemort had done the first time. People were just too scared to admit that it was happening again.”

“I can’t blame them for that,” Harry admitted as he looked down at the file.

“You want to know something else that scares me?” Rob asked.

Harry looked up, “What?”

“I’m pretty sure Declan Finnigan is ex-IRA too,” Rob said, “And I’m not going to lie the IRA scare me more than the Death Eaters. I grew up here in the ’60s when it was all kicking off up in Derry, the year before I started at Hogwarts was bad. It was a scary time to grow up.”

“I’m sorry,” Harry admitted, “I take the piss out of you, but I do look up to you, Rob. You’ve said it before; we are alike.”

Rob just nodded, “It’s why I’ve always liked you kiddo. I see myself in you.”

“Well done, you just managed to compliment yourself by complimenting me,” Harry snorted. He looked at the address on the file in front of him, “Do you think Declan will be there?”

“I don’t know, but I doubt it,” Rob confessed, “I mean look at his file. He’s got no fixed address and a long list of priors for petty crime. He’s a gypsy if ever I saw one and I bet you ten galleons that last known address is a brothel.”

Harry sighed, “I don’t know if I can handle it being a dead-end, Rob.”

“Come on,” Rob said, glancing at the time, “We’ll grab a coffee then check it out.”

* * *

Theo stared down at his blood-covered hands in horror then he looked up at Lucia. They were in his tiny cell, and a young man in his early 20’s was writhing in a pool of blood on the floor.

“What did you do?”

Lucia smirked, “Oh, I didn’t do anything. This was all you. Didn’t I tell you? The best Aurors make the best bad guys. It’s a thin line between using your power for good and for bad.”

“But…”

“Yes, you can resist the imperius curse,” Lucia said with a roll of her eyes, “But honestly sweetie, you’re the smart one. Surely you know that’s not the only way to control someone.”

Theo swallowed, “What did you do to me?”

Lucia leant against the door, “Compulsion charm.”

Theo shook his head and took a step back, “A compulsion charm isn’t strong enough to make me do that.”

“Not on its own,” Lucia agreed, “But while I was in your head, I made you focus on the memory of your children being born. You were so adorably distracted that you barely even noticed the compulsion charm taking hold. I made you think your wife and children were dead and that Andrew here had been the killer and oh boy, did you go to town on him? You would have killed him if I hadn’t stopped you. I do need him alive, unfortunately,” Lucia said, glancing distastefully down at the young man.

“Thanks for your help darling, I’ll pop back in to see you soon,” Lucia said, vanishing the writhing body with a flick of her wand then stalking out of the cell.

Theo looked at his hands, still covered in blood and shaking uncontrollably. Then he looked at the puddle of blood on the floor, and he shoved himself into the furthest corner he could as he realised that this woman was trying her hardest to turn him into a monster.

* * *

“Morning team,” John said, depositing a tray of sugary treats on the table, “Everyone in this room feels the same right now. We’re all tired, we’re all pissed off, and we all want Theo back alive and in one piece.”

There was a general round of nodding.

“Jack and I had a chat last night after you lot left,” John continued, sitting down on the desk, “And we’ve concluded that the only way to do that is to infiltrate this crime ring. We’ve been holding off because we didn’t feel like we had enough to go on but now that one of our own is at risk, we don’t have a choice. The Ireland team can’t do anything without information. We need locations of safe houses, warehouses that they use to store their goods, anything that we can get.”

Neville cut in, “Sorry to interrupt sir, but you know the best place to infiltrate when you need information?”

John raised an eyebrow at him, “The pop-up brothels?”

“Yeah,” Neville admitted, “Guys will talk to a girl if they’re getting something out of it.”

“Means sending one of our own undercover as a hooker, Neville,” John pointed out, “Not many female Aurors are going to be happy with that.”

“Ophelia certainly won’t do it,” Draco added, “She already feels like nobody respects her because she’s with Lorne.”

“She feels that way?” John asked in surprise.

“Yeah,” Neville said with a shrug.

John sighed, “I didn’t know that, but in any case, you’re right. I doubt Wood would be on board.”

“Most female Aurors wouldn’t be on board with pretending to sleep with men they don’t care about,” Neville agreed, “But I can think of one person who doesn’t care about that.”

“Blanche!” Draco realised, “She’s into girls!”

“Exactly,” Neville said with a hint of a smirk.

“We sure we trust her?”

“Positive,” Draco and Neville said in unison.

“Alright,” John said, “Neville, bring her into the fold.”

“Yes, sir.”

Neville left their private bullpen and headed for Organised Crime. He knocked on the door then popped his head in, “Morning guys. Sorry to be a thorn in your side but Blanche, we need you on the task force.”

Blanche grinned, “Do you?”

“Yep,” Neville replied, “Sorry Fee, we’d take you as well, but Organised Crime can’t afford to give up two members of staff with Cross being on annual leave.”

“It’s fine,” Ophelia said with a smile, “Have fun, Blanche.”

Blanche flipped her long hair back and left the Organised Crime bullpen with Neville.

“Am I going to have fun?” She asked him.

“Oh, I very much doubt that,” Neville admitted, shooting her an amused look, “Come on in, I’ll catch you up.”

Catching Blanche up took ten minutes. Like everyone else, she was stunned to discover that Theo was alive but entirely on board with helping them get him back. Once she knew what was going on, Neville explained why they needed her, “…so the best way to get information out of them is through the brothels.”

“You want me to go undercover as a hooker?”

“Yeah,” Neville said sheepishly, “We do, yeah.”

“Right,” Blanche said, leaning against the desk, “Well…in principle I’m okay with that, but I will need to send Ginny a Patronus first, and if she’s okay with it, there will need to be rules.”

“Of course,” John said with a nod, “We’ll have a tracker in you to monitor your vitals at all times, and we’ll be able to hear everything that you hear.”

“Great, my boss is gonna listen to me seduce a guy,” Blanche snorted, “I’m not going to have to sleep with them, am I?”

“No, we’d never make you do that,” John said, “What you are going to have to do is play the part up to a certain point then knock them out and modify their memory, so they _think_ they have had sex with you.”

“Play the part up to a certain point?” Blanche asked, raising an eyebrow at him, “Foreplay, basically?”

John looked utterly uncomfortable with this topic of conversation, “Yeah Zabini, foreplay.”

“I guess I can do that,” Blanche said, looking up at the clock, “What time are we at? 9.30 am, kids at Lupin House will have just had breakfast, so it’s probably a quiet time for Gin. Let me see what she thinks.”

“Expecto Patronum.”

Blanche’s Patronus was an Orca (not to scale obviously because that would be ridiculous). They had joked at first, but it made sense now, Orcas were an animal known to have a particularly strong family bond, and it could not be said that the Zabinis didn’t care about their family. They would do anything for them, even more so now that Blanche considered Ginny and Hope as her family.

“Hey Gin, this channel will open when you send your Patronus back. I need to talk to you about something.”

The Orca flew out of the room gracefully, and Blanche looked over, “No whale jokes? The shit is hitting the fan.”

Neville snorted at the description, but Draco didn’t laugh. He just looked down at the file in front of him. It was Theo’s, and it had the words ‘DECEASED’ stamped across it.

“Yeah,” Draco said, his eyes on the mugshot photograph of Theo atop the page, “It is.”

At that point, a horse galloped into the room, and a ball of silvery light burst out of it, “Hey Blanche. Please don’t tell me this is a, ‘I’m going on a dangerous mission and might die’ kind of Patronus because I have had _such_ a bad morning.”

Blanche chuckled, “No, it’s not that. At least not yet but I am on a case right now, and it might go that way soon. What’s been so bad about your morning?”

“Oh Hope hates me for sending her to the school-room with the other kids here, but she doesn’t want to go to my mums or your mums, so there are no other options since she has to learn basic maths and English before she goes to Hogwarts,” Ginny ranted, “So she tried to tell me she was sick this morning to get out of it. I mean, how stupid does she think I am? For Merlin’s sake, I’m a Healer!”

Blanche bit her lip and shot Neville an amused look.

“Yeah, babe, sounds terrible,” Blanche said in the most serious tone she could muster, “But I’m about to make it worse. How do you feel about me going undercover for this job?”

“You go undercover all the time. Why would I be annoyed about that?” Ginny asked.

“Because I’ll be going undercover as a hooker,” Blanche said.

There was a brief pause, “You’ll be sleeping with guys?”

“No, I’ll not be sleeping with them, thank Salazar,” Blanche muttered.

Ginny laughed, “You point-blank are not attracted to guys, this is hilarious. You’re literally the gayest person I know.”

Blanche rolled her eyes, “See what I have to put up with?” She asked the others with an amused smile.

Even John was finding the conversation amusing.

“Yes, Ginny, I am exclusively into girls, so you don’t have to feel threatened,” Blanche concluded, “Not unless there’s a female hooker there who turns my head.”

“Oh shut up,” Ginny snorted, “Whose pimping you out then?”

Neville grimaced, “Yeah, that’s going to be me.”

Ginny cackled rather evilly, “Well, Blanche, you had the easy job, didn’t you? Neville…Lilly is going to destroy you when you tell her that one.”

“Yeah, I know,” Neville admitted.

“I can just picture the scene! _Hey baby, I’m going to go undercover and pimp out Blanche._ Then she slaps you or punches you. That girl has an impressive right hook,” Ginny sniggered.

“Okay, now you’re just being mean,” Neville said, but he was smiling.

“Anyway, I probably won’t be home tonight with this case being what it is,” Blanche said, “Give Hope a kiss from me, and I’ll see you tomorrow with any luck.”

“Okay – oh for Heaven's sake David, what have you done this time? Quidditch? How did you rip off three fingernails playing Quidditch? I need to go. Good luck. Love you.”

“Love you too,” Blanche said, shaking her head in amusement as the Patronus disappeared.

When she looked up, she said, “Neville, she’s right, you know? You do have a hard job.”

“I know I do,” Neville grimaced.

“Put me in with her instead then,” Draco said.

“Like Hermione would be any better,” Neville snorted.

Draco glared at him, “I don’t really care what Hermione thinks right now because Hermione wants Theo back as badly as Sadie and I do. You know that it would make more sense to put me in than Neville, sir.”

John looked between them, “You are better placed in the criminal underworld, what with you working Vice for the past few years, but it’s more complicated than that.”

“Why?” Draco asked irritably.

“Because you aren’t objective, Draco,” John said, “You can’t be. Regardless of what you say about him just being your Auror partner or your best friend, it’s pretty damn obvious that it’s more than that. Your eulogy at his funeral cemented it, whatever way it’s intended, you love Theo, and that means you can’t be objective.”

“No,” Draco said with a shake of his head, “Don’t try to shut me out of this. I’ve been here since day one. I’m more a part of this than you are. This has been my case from the get-go, Theo and I profiled Finnigan and his known associates. I know more than anyone else, deciding not to send me in would frankly be a stupid decision, sir.”

“You think you can add sir on the end of that sentence to make it sound less disrespectful?” John asked, crossing his arms and looking Draco in the eye.

“Potter got away with it for six years,” Draco quipped.

Neville nearly spat his coffee out at that comment.

“I can be objective,” Draco promised, “I will stay in character, I won’t lose my temper or my focus. I guarantee that sir, in fact, I’m so sure about it that I’ll bet my badge on it.”

John surveyed him for a moment, “That’s a Wolfe move if ever I saw one. God, I can tell you lot started in CPS.”

Draco stood his ground and slammed his badge on the table.

“Yeah, you’ve made your point,” John remarked, “Okay. Draco and Blanche are entering the criminal underworld, which means you and I are on surveillance, Neville.”

Neville nodded. He was quite proud of Draco for fighting his corner like that.

“Are you going to send your wife a Patronus and-”

“No,” Draco cut off Neville, “I’m going to wait until Theo’s home, and we’re all happy then I’m going to casually slip into conversation how funny it was that I had to pimp Blanche out to rescue him.”

Neville snorted, “And she’ll not talk to you for two weeks like the last time.”

“It was only one week the last time, she’s mellowing with age,” Draco said. Neville smiled; it was the first joke Draco had made since Theo had ‘died’ over two weeks ago.

* * *

“I’m going undercover tonight!” Draco yelled as he dashed through the house, “I need my undercover stuff!”

Hermione popped her head out of the kitchen, “In the back of the closet in the spare room!”

Draco ran up the stairs, very loudly. He clattered around for a few minutes, then came back.

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him, “Undercover?”

“Yeah,” Draco replied with a sheepish smile, “Hey, Ella!”

“Dada!”

Draco picked his daughter up and hugged her. It had been a long day, and she had still been asleep when he left for work that morning.

“Undercover as what, a biker?”

Draco was wearing tight, black leather trousers, an old weird sisters t-shirt that she hadn’t seen him wear in years, and a black leather jacket.

“Something like that,” Draco answered, “I _am_ going to need the bike.”

“It’s next door, in the lock-up behind the summerhouse,” Hermione said, “Are you eating dinner before you go?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t have time,” Draco said apologetically, “Are you eating with Sade?”

“Uh-huh, but she’s at a meeting with the headmistress of the twins' school at the moment,” Hermione told him, “Almina has been quiet, and Charlie is acting out. Sadie is trying her best to explain the situation in muggle terms. I offered to go with her, but she said it was fine.”

“She will be fine,” Draco assured Hermione, “And as far as the kids are aware, their father has died. That stupid headmistress should be able to see the struggle they are going through, and she shouldn’t be pulling Sadie in for meetings. Honestly, if you force Ella to go to a school, she will _not_ be going to that one.”

“It’s the second-best private school in England!” Hermione exclaimed in disbelief.

“Then Ella will be going to the best one,” Draco said matter of factly.

“Sometimes, just _sometimes_ , I remember that you were Draco Malfoy once upon a time,” Hermione said, shooting him an amused smile.

Draco smiled back and kissed her, pressing her back against the counter.

“Draco, children,” Hermione mumbled, pulling away from him.

“She’s two; she doesn’t understand.”

“Still,” Hermione said sternly, “The password for the lock-up next door is-”

“-Slytherins are the best in bed,” Draco finished with a grin, “I know, Theo told me when he warded it. _Why_ is my bike in Theo’s lock-up, by the way?”

“He borrowed it a couple of weeks before he…” Hermione frowned, “…disappeared. Then he decided that it would be safer in the lock-up than in our broom shed.”

Draco snorted, “Let’s change the wording of that sentence. He put it in his lock-up so he could use it whenever he wanted.”

“Pretty much, yeah,” Hermione answered with a sad smile.

“Don’t look so sad, I’ll get him back,” Draco said, determination gleaming in his eyes, “I will.”

“I know you will,” Hermione said, kissing him one last time, “I have faith in you.”

* * *

Daphne was finding Harry’s absence harder than she let on. When it got to 9 pm on the first evening of his trip to Dublin, she was desperate to open a bottle of wine.

“I hate breastfeeding,” She complained to Lilly.

“No you don’t, it’s why you’re so hot two weeks after giving birth,” Lilly pointed out as she took a pizza out of the oven, “Although I can tell that you’re feeling down because you only ever ask me to cook you pizza when you’re sad.”

Daphne sighed, “Yeah…I really want wine.”

“Look, stop trying to be super-mum for five minutes,” Lilly said, looking at her best friend knowingly, “Everyone else thinks you’re perfect, that you never shout at the kids. They think you never cry and that you never just say why the hell did I think having four kids at 25 was a good idea? I know you, so just be straight with me, even if you really aren’t.”

Daphne smiled at that, “Funny.”

Lilly chuckled, “I showed you how to do that milk expressing charm. Go to the bathroom, do it, put it in the fridge then have a couple of glasses of wine. This is not an ordinary situation, and nobody blames you for wanting to take the pressure off a bit. Okay?”

“Okay,” Daphne conceded so she disappeared to the bathroom and when she came fifteen minutes later, Lilly had cleaned the kitchen and tidied all of Alastor and Andrea’s toys away into the playpen.

“You’re too good to me,” Daphne said, sitting down at the table and accepting the glass of wine that Lilly had handed her.

“Uh-huh,” Lilly agreed, smiling in amusement as Daphne moaned into her wine glass, “Oh this is so good. I’ve missed this.”

Lilly grabbed a slice of pizza, “Is this all because Harry’s in Dublin?”

“That’s part of it,” Daphne said as she swilled her wine around the glass absentmindedly, “It’s also just the nature of this case, you know? It’s dangerous. Theo’s life is at stake. I’m worried that one of us really does end up widowed while they rescue Theo.”

“That’s morbid,” Lilly muttered. She made a face and put her pizza down.

“Are you okay?” Daphne asked, looking over at Lilly.

“Yeah,” Lilly said. Like Daphne, she was staring absentmindedly at the food on the table.

“Have a glass of wine,” Daphne prodded, “It helps.”

“I can’t,” Lilly answered.

“Oh, you’re working tomorrow, aren’t you?” Daphne asked.

“Yeah but not until the evening shift,” Lilly said.

“So why can’t you drink?” Daphne asked, frowning at the dark-haired girl.

Lilly shrugged and looked up at her best friend, “I’m pregnant.”

Daphne nearly spat out her wine. Instead, she rather ungracefully, choked on it and spluttered, “What?”

“Yeah,” Lilly said miserably, “I didn’t think I could be, but Clara did the test a couple of days ago because I couldn’t stop throwing up and…I’m pregnant, but it’s early.”

“How early?” Daphne asked.

“4 weeks and four days,” Lilly said with a sigh.

Daphne grabbed her hand, “That means the IVF worked, Lil. Why aren’t you over the moon?”

Lilly laughed weakly, “Why aren’t I over the moon? Really?”

“It’s great news,” Daphne said, looking at the expression on Lilly’s face.

“Maybe it isn’t though,” Lilly said, “Maybe it won’t be great at all. Maybe it will just hurt like it did last Christmas and like it did after our honeymoon.”

Daphne sighed and pulled her friend into a hug, “I know.”

Lilly didn’t cry, but she did lean into Daphne’s embrace.

“I know exactly how you feel, remember?” Daphne said, grabbing her best friends hand, “You got me through those two hellish years before we gave up and adopted Al. You were the one who was there when I had that first miscarriage, and Harry and Neville were off on their first undercover trip. You were the one who made sure I got to the hospital in time with the second one because you could tell I had an infection when I couldn’t.”

Lilly sniffed and said, “Why does it have to be this way? Why all of the misery before you finally get a slice of happiness?”

“I don’t know, sweetie,” Daphne sighed, “It’s sure as hell not fair though. I know things have been hard for you Lilly, but I think you’ve had your share of bad luck. Maybe this one is your happy ending.”

“Or maybe it’s just the last straw,” Lilly said, sniffing against Daphne’s chest, “The point where I give up.”

“You can’t think like that,” Daphne said firmly, “You need to look after yourself, and you need to stay in a positive frame of mind. You make sure you eat, even when you feel sick, you make sure to get enough rest.”

Lilly nodded and drew back from the hug, “You think it’s going to be okay this time?”

“Yeah,” Daphne said with a smile, “I’ve got a good feeling.”

“I said that when you told me you were pregnant with Andrea,” Lilly said, a fond smile slipping onto her face.

“And you were right,” Daphne said, putting her finger under Lilly’s chin, “So chin up, okay? What does Neville think?”

“He doesn’t know,” Lilly admitted, “And you can’t judge me for that! You didn’t tell Harry until after your three-month check for the same reason that I don’t want to tell Neville. I don’t want to get his hopes up and hurt him.”

“You’re right, I’d be a hypocrite if I told you off for that,” Daphne confessed, “But I’m here if you need anything. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“I am thinking we need a better method of getting between the houses though,” Daphne mused, “The floo and the vanishing cabinet aren’t completely safe during pregnancy so I’d rather you didn’t use either of them. You can apparate obviously, but apparition makes you feel so sick when you’re pregnant.”

“Tell me about it,” Lilly said with a roll of her eyes, “Still, what can we do? Build a tunnel between Surrey and the Lake District?”

“No,” Daphne snorted, “That’s ridiculous, but I’ll think of something, I’m sure.”

“I was being sarcastic, you pain in the arse,” Lilly laughed, shoving a slice of pizza towards her best friend, “Eat something.”

“You eat something.”

“I feel sick.”

“So do I!”

They met each other's eyes and burst out laughing.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	9. The Wound is Still Open

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title comes from the song:  
> The Bullet by Carrie Underwood.

Being Blanche’s pimp was a pretty easy job. It involved both herself and Draco glamouring up or taking polyjuice potion, getting equipped with false identities and infiltrating an underground joint below Knockturn Alley. This was made easier by the fact that the alley was abandoned now, thanks to the fire.

Once they were in, Draco just had to be a sleazy bastard for five minutes, then Blanche was being led down a back corridor.

“She your girl?” The barman asked as he slid a firewhiskey to Draco.

Draco scoffed, “No. I’d never sell my girl like that. She’s just some urchin I found, abandoned by her family, needs to make money, y’know? Easy prey.”

“Seems willing enough,” The barman pointed out.

“She’s a glory hunter,” Draco said, grinning at him, “Thinks she’ll meet a guy, and he’ll fall in love with her and take her in. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that’s not how it works in this business.”

The barman laughed, “What business you into then?”

“Ah, all sorts,” Draco replied, “Anything to keep the wolves from the door, eh? The latest thing I’m working on is a batch of polyjuice potion. I hear your boys need good brewers and I could do with an injection of cash.”

The barman bowed his head, “Aye, the big man is in Ireland right now. Essential business, he says, but we need some more polyjuice. Your girl up for polyjuicing? She’ll get paid double for it.”

“She’ll do whatever I tell her to do,” Draco said smoothly, “She knows what happens otherwise.”

“You’re alright for a Fawley,” The barman said, “Always thought you lot were all high and mighty.”

Draco snorted, “Oh yeah most of the Fawley’s are, but I’m not like most of them. I’m a half-blood.”

“Oh, you Farquars son?” The barman asked, “Always knew he’d had a kid or two with that muggle girl, never did know if they were muggle or wizard though.”

“I’m a wizard, my brother is a muggle,” Draco told the barman, “My father always hated the rest of his family, mind you. A whole lot of lying, cheating scum.”

“Fucking hell, yeah,” The barman agreed, “Marrying off their daughter before she could finish school? I hear Stuart Fawley is a right slimy bastard too. Word is that he lost his big hotshot job at the bank for touching up one of the trainees.”

Draco swallowed a comment and said, “Yeah? Doesn’t surprise me. Bunch of arseholes the lot of them.”

“Purebloods for you though, isn’t it?” The barman said.

“Yeah, what about you? What family are you from?” Draco asked curiously.

“MacDougall,” The barman said, “Seamus is my kin, he got me a job down here. I’m a squib so nobody else would employ me.”

“Yeah? The world shouldn’t be that way, should it? You're born of magical parents, you should have the same right as everyone else,” Draco said.

“Aye, and that’s the way it’s gonna be,” The barman said, “You share the boss’s vision? Rid this world of the pureblood scum and make it fair again?”

“Sounds like a vision I can get behind,” Draco said.

“How good are you in a fight?”

“We talking a physical fight or a duel?”

The barman grinned, “Oh, it’s always a bit of both with the boss.”

“Reckon I’m passable,” Draco answered, “Why?”

“The boss likes the new guys to prove themselves,” The barman said, “Friday nights are fight nights. We give you the location of a warehouse, you show up and fight for the entertainment of the crowds. If you get far enough, he’ll take you on as help.”

“How far do I need to get exactly?”

“Ah, just depends if you impress him or not, he’s fickle,” The barman said with a wide grin, “You up for the challenge, Fawley?”

“Yeah, I’m up for the fucking challenge,” Draco said, “Give me a location, and I’ll be there. Don’t suppose you’ll have any use for my girl? Double my profits in one night?”

“Oh I’m sure he’ll find a use for her,” The barman said. He handed Draco a silver coin, “Co-ordinates will burn onto it at midnight tonight. You come with your girl but nobody else, that’s the rules. No seconds, no reinforcements or fancy tricks. Just you, your wand and your fists.”

“Alright,” Draco smirked, “Nice chatting to you MacDougall, you’re a decent bloke.”

“Aye, so are you Fawley.”

Draco looked away from the barman, trying to find an excuse to leave, “Oh that fucking bastard O’Brady is here. He still hasn’t paid me for that batch of counterfeit pepper-up potions I gave him. Catch you around MacDougall.”

He put his glass down and stalked over to the criminal in question. He knew that O’Brady owed Joseph Fawley money because the _real_ Joseph Fawley had told him when he arrested him last month. It was also pretty convenient that the real Joseph Fawley was currently in a ministry safe house, awaiting his trial. Nobody knew that which meant Draco had a perfect cover.

He made a show of cursing O’Brady and pinning him up against a wall, demanding his money back within a week. Then he wiped the blood on his trousers and stalked down the back corridor with the guise of checking on his girl. He took a breath when he reached the bathroom at the end of the hall. Acting like this was a little too easy, which scared him. He felt sick when he thought about the fact that he could have become this person if the war had gone a different way for him.

_“You’re doing great, Draco.”_

Neville’s voice in his ear was oddly comforting, although he would never tell him that. He looked at his reflection in the mirror; it was the reflection of Joseph Fawley, a scumbag in his early 40’s who was still chasing after young women and making a living out of the only thing he was good at; brewing potions.

* * *

“You can uncover your ears Shep, she’s done,” Neville said, tapping his boss on the shoulder.

John looked incredibly uncomfortable, “Yeah? She get anything from him?”

“Oh yeah,” Neville said. He looked down at the tablet that showed them Blanche’s vital signs; her heart rate was going back to normal.

“Brilliant job, Blanche.”

_“I am **never** doing undercover work for you again,” _Blanche’s voice said, _“That was worse than the time I shagged Lee Jordan.”_

“Did you sleep with him?” John asked in surprise.

“Shep wasn’t listening,” Neville added, “He had to cover his ears.”

_“Thank Merlin for that and no, I didn’t shag him, but he was overweight and over 50, so foreplay was bad enough_ ,” Blanche said distastefully.

“But you got him to talk, and Draco did just as well with the barman. He’s in the bathroom across the hall from you, grab him and get out. We need you both back at base.”

_“Will do.”_

Neville silenced the tablet, so they didn’t have to listen to everything that Blanche and Draco heard anymore. He glanced at the clock, “Time to check in with Ireland.”

John nodded, “Expecto Patronum!”

A german shepherd burst from his wand and sat on its hind legs in front of him.

“Time to check-in. Send a Patronus back when you are in a safe place.”

The dog dashed out of the room, and John sighed, pouring out a couple of cups of coffee, “So Draco will get a location on that coin at midnight tonight.”

They both glanced at the clock; it was already 11 pm.

“Reckon it’s going to be in Ireland?” Neville mused.

“I’m almost sure of it,” John returned.

Before they could discuss the matter any further, a wolf bounded into the room, and a ball of silver light burst out from it.

_“We’re staying with a muggle friend of mine. Don’t get more secure than that; please tell us you’ve got something? Because our day was a bust,”_ Rob said.

“We’ve got something,” John replied, “But tell us about your day first.”

_“We got a last known location for Declan Finnigan. It turned out it was the house of a hooker; she said she hadn’t seen him in two months. He beat the shit out of her, turned on his tail and ran. He’s complete scum; the muggle police are always dragging him in for petty theft, use of hookers, you name it.”_

_“So he’s in the wind,”_ Harry said, “ _And we’re back to square one.”_

“Hopefully not for long,” Neville said, “Draco and Blanche did great undercover tonight. Draco got in with the barman. It turns out that Seamus runs illegal fights every Friday night. It’s a different warehouse every week and its how he picks the guys that work for him. Draco talked the talk as Joseph Fawley, and he was given a coin. At midnight tonight, we’ll get co-ordinates for tomorrow nights fight.”

“And we’re sure it’s in going to be in Ireland,” John added, “If that is the case, we’ll get a strand of Fawley’s hair to you, and one of you guys will go in as him. You guys need to think about how you’re going to get a tracker on Seamus at that fight. He’ll lead us to Lucia, but we can’t risk him working out what’s going on.”

_“Alright,”_ Rob said, “ _Did Blanche find out anything that’s going to be of use to us?”_

“Yeah, the guy she was with tonight was Seamus’s uncle. He’s a muggle, but Seamus lets him work for him, he does the books apparently,” Neville replied, “Seamus was born in Dublin, but the Finnigan family are from Kildare. The Finnigan family owned a farm out there, but it went bust in the 1960s. It might well be where Lucia is hiding out, but I can’t get you anything more than that I’m afraid.”

_“Good thing Rob knows Kildare then_ ,” Harry said, the jest in his voice clear, “ _Let us know as soon as you find out that location.”_

“Will do. London team out.”

* * *

“Guess we’re going to Kildare tomorrow?” Harry said.

“Guess so,” Rob agreed.

Harry sat down on the sofa in the spare room, “What’s up with you? You’ve been acting more solemn than usual since we got to Ireland.”

“It’s just being back here,” Rob said with a shrug, “Reminds me of some stuff I tried to forget for a long time, you know?”

“Yeah,” Harry said, thinking of how it had felt going back to Godric’s Hollow, “Did you ever do what Lucia did? You know, grow up and decide to track down your birth family?”

“I did, yeah,” Rob said, “After the first war with Voldemort, I thought maybe I’d feel whole if I tracked down who I was. When you don’t know where you come from, you wonder if your parents might have been magical, you know?”

Harry nodded.

“Mine weren’t,” Rob said, throwing himself onto the single bed, “They were just muggles with a sad story. My mum got pregnant with me at 15; she was unmarried and Catholic. Even now in Ireland that’s not on, back then it just didn’t swing at all. She was sent to a mother and baby home. From what I’ve been able to dig up, they don’t treat women or babies well in those places, but it's hard to find out much about them.”

Harry watched Rob curiously as he told the story.

“I’ve no idea who my dad was. Some kid who knocked her up, maybe? Something worse, a family member who abused her? It doesn’t really beg thinking about. Either way, she died after giving birth to me, and the nuns raised me in the home til I was three or four. That was when they farmed me off to an orphanage in Dublin. I don’t remember the home if I’m honest. My earliest memories are of the orphanage,” Rob said, staring up at the ceiling.

“I’m sorry, Rob.”

Rob sighed, “Don’t be sorry for things you can’t change, kid. Some of us just have a tragic back story. It’s what shapes us into the people we are. Luke Skywalker, see? He’d never have been an epic hero if he grew up happy.”

Harry chuckled.

“Then there’s Batman,” Rob said, “Bruce Wayne would never have become Batman if his parents hadn’t died just like you’d never have become the chosen one if your parents hadn’t died. Tragic backstories….they either turn us into good guys who want to change the world for the better like us, or bad guys who want to change it for worse like Voldemort and Grindelwald.”

Harry smiled, “Profound, Rob.”

“That was profound for me,” Rob agreed with a laugh, “But back to the big issue. How are we going to get a tracker on Seamus without him noticing?”

“Well, that might not be as hard as you might think,” Harry confessed.

“What d’you mean?”

“I went to school with Seamus,” Harry said, shooting Rob an amused grin, “And he’s really not that smart.”

* * *

“Okay, I’m starting to get a little annoyed with you now,” Lucia said, crossing her arms over her chest, “You _are_ a tough nut to crack.”

Lucia was leaning against the door. Theo was breathing heavily, resisting the imperius curse was getting harder. It was taking a physical strain on his body, and his lack of magic didn’t help with that. He had to fight all the harder. After the first time she controlled him through the use of Legilimency and a compulsion charm, Theo had been able to guard against such an attack.

“And to think, everyone thought you were the weak link,” Lucia mused, “I’m going to give you one last chance now. It’s your choice. You can continue with your worthless life, or you can become someone who matters.”

“I _am_ someone who matters,” Theo ground out, “I matter to my wife and my kids.”

“Not to Draco anymore?” Lucia smirked, “Little bit bitter that he hasn’t fought hard enough for you? That he just gave up on you and buried an empty coffin?”

“Shut up,” Theo spat.

Lucia grinned, “Your memories are so interesting, you know? Your life was quite sad, don’t you want to burn the purebloods down with me?”

“My friends are purebloods so no,” Theo hissed.

“But your father was a pureblood, and he never loved you,” Lucia said, “You were never good enough for him, were you? Too weak. Too soft. Too much like our mother. It’s interesting that he used that as an insult.”

“Don’t call her that,” Theo snapped.

“Our mother?” Lucia asked, revelling in the anger that flashed in Theo’s eyes, “Why not? She was our mother, and you seem to worship the ground she walked on. Why is that, exactly? She was hardly a saint, if anything she seems like a bit of a slut.”

“SHUT UP!” Theo roared, “Don’t you dare talk about her like that!”

Lucia laughed, “Oh Theodore, do calm down or I’ll have to make your mouth disappear again. Think about this; she married your father at 17 years old, she didn’t even finish her last year of school. She must have been smart mind you, to get her N.E.W.T’s a year early. I got mine early too, and I was a Ravenclaw like her. I suppose I take after my mother.”

Theo’s glare burned into Lucia, but she didn’t seem to notice, “She gave birth to you a couple of months before her eighteenth birthday then she started running around with Lucius Malfoy who was how much older than her?”

“She loved him,” Theo snarled.

“Did she?” Lucia asked, “Or was she just a bit of a glory hunter who wasn’t very good with the contraception charm?”

Theo lunged at Lucia for the first time. She seemed to have expected it because she threw up an invisible shield between them instantly.

Theo hit it and bounced back, hitting the back of his head against the wall.

Lucia laughed, “I’m an Auror too, sweetie, and I think my reflexes are a little faster than yours right now.”

Theo groaned and nursed his throbbing head.

“But I am facing a bit of a problem right now,” Lucia said with a sigh, “Physical torture, magical torture and the imperius curse. You can resist it all, you _are_ as good an Auror as they all say you are, congratulations. I do, of course, know your weakness, but I can hardly risk exposing myself to torture your wife, which leaves me at a bit of a loose end.”

Theo smirked triumphantly.

Lucia smiled, “I wouldn’t smirk just yet, I do have one last trick up my sleeve. One of the classes I loved in Auror training was criminal profiling. It was fun to work out what a person's hidden secrets and deepest fears were, all from a few facts on a piece of paper.”

Theo looked at her warily through heavy-lidded eyes.

“And it doesn’t take a genius to work out what your worst fear is,” Lucia finished, “So I wonder how much easier you will be to convince once you’ve spent some time reliving your family history?”

Theo had no idea what she meant until the words of the curse were spoken. They sounded familiar somehow, but before he could work out why that was, he was lost to the darkness inside himself.

_“Manseritis pessimum somnum, exterreri solebat.”_

* * *

When the silver coin burned at midnight that night, the London team wrote the co-ordinates down straight away.

53°20'48.2"N 6°15'07.0"W

John pulled on one of the shutters for the false windows in the room. It had a map of the world on it, and when he said those co-ordinates it began to zoom in on the UK, then it changed tack and headed over to Ireland.

“Moss Street, Dublin,” Neville said, looking at his boss, “Good shout Shep.”

John nodded, “Right, Draco, do _not_ kick-off. Harry and Rob are going to go in as Fawley for this next stint-”

“- what!”

“Listen!” John snapped, “We need you on the sting team. Harry and Rob are going to go to that fight and get a tracker on Finnigan. That’s going to lead us straight to Lucia, and we need you on the team that plans that bust. This is why you’re in Vice. You’re damn good at planning a perfect bust with no loopholes.”

“That’s not because of me, that’s Theo!” Draco retorted, “It’s Theo who is always five steps ahead. It’s Theo who can map out the six different ways a situation can go wrong then somehow manage to account for them all. _Theo_ , not me.”

“Well in his absence, you’re the best we have,” Neville said, placing his hand on Draco’s shoulder, “Go home, hug your kids and tell Hermione that you love her. This is the most dangerous mission we’ve faced since we joined the Aurors.”

Draco just nodded, he looked deflated.

“Same goes for you two,” John said, pointing at Neville and Blanche, “Spend the night with the people you love. Get some sleep and come in here fresh tomorrow because from the minute we send our boys into that fight tomorrow night, the shit is going to hit the fan as you said Blanche.”

“Yes, sir,” Blanche said.

Neville nodded and grabbed his bag, “Understood sir.”

* * *

“Did you make a good hooker?”

Blanche snorted in amusement as Ginny stepped into the bathroom attached to their bedroom. She pulled the shower curtain back a little and popped her head out, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Ginny chuckled, “Stop with the act. It was terrible, wasn’t it?”

“It was awful,” Blanche replied, “So you’re going to have to wash away the terrible experience before I go on the ‘dangerous say goodbye just in case’ mission tomorrow.

Ginny didn’t laugh. Blanche turned the shower off and wrapped herself in a towel.

“That was supposed to be a joke.”

“It wasn’t funny,” Ginny said simply. She leant against the sink and surveyed the woman that she had come to love, “Because you’re not the only Auror that I love.”

Blanche smiled sadly, “Perce?”

“He’s going to be there too, isn’t he?”

“He’s probably one of the Aurors who can be trusted,” Blanche agreed, “So when the time comes, I expect he will be called in.”

“The last time one of my brothers fought with my then-other half, they both died,” Ginny pointed out.

“Yes, but your then-other half was Harry Potter, and he’s terrible for that,” Blanche teased.

Ginny managed a half-smile, “I can’t lose another brother, Blanche.”

“You won’t,” Blanche said, kissing Ginny softly, “I’ll be there to have his back.”

Ginny met her eye, “And whose going to have your back?”

“Fee,” Blanche replied calmly, “Like she has done for the past five years.”

Ginny bit her lip and Blanche grabbed Ginny’s hips, pulling her in and kissing her hard. Ginny’s eyes fluttered shut, and she relaxed into the kiss, wrapping her arms around Blanche’s neck.

“I love you,” Ginny murmured against her lips.

“I love you too,” Blanche said softly, “I’ll be fine, I promise.”

Their eyes met, and Ginny nodded very slightly.

“Mum! Dad! I had the dragon nightmare again!”

Ginny rolled her eyes, “If you die and we didn’t get to have goodbye sex because of Hope and that fucking dragon nightmare, I swear to Godric, I will kill my brother.”

“We’re never letting Charlie babysit again,” Blanche agreed, throwing a silken nightgown on, “But I’ll go and sort Hope out. Just in case I die tomorrow, you know?”

Ginny looked at her irritably, “Not funny.”

“Then I’ll come back, and we’ll have goodbye sex,” Blanche added in an amused whisper, “Really good goodbye sex. Just in case, right?”

Ginny smiled in amusement, “You’re a pain in the arse.”

“Mum!”

“I’m coming Hope!” Blanche called, shooting Ginny a grin as she left the bathroom.

“Auntie Blanche! You’re home!”

Ginny smiled and watched from the bedroom doorway as Blanche took Hope’s hand and led her back into her bedroom, “Yeah baby, I’m home. I had to work tonight.”

“Is it fun working at night-time?”

“Oh no, it’s super boring,” Blanche said with a shake of her head, “The whole time I was working, I was just wishing I was in my lovely warm bed sleeping.”

“No, you weren’t.”

“Yes, I was,” Blanche said, tucking Hope into her bed, “So get back to sleep, and I’ll see you in the morning. I’ve got to go away to Ireland for work tomorrow, so I’ll make pancakes for breakfast, okay sweetheart?”

“Okay,” Hope yawned, “Love you.”

“Love you too,” Blanche said, kissing Hope on the cheek, “Night sweetie.”

She tiptoed out of the little girl's room and saw Ginny smiling from the doorway of their bedroom, “So, are you going to tell me what’s so big and dangerous?”

Blanche frowned.

“You’ve been very secretive about this whole thing,” Ginny added.

“I know,” Blanche agreed, shutting the bedroom door quietly, “I’ve had to be to avoid compromising the mission, but…Theo is alive.”

Ginny’s eyes widened, “How?”

“It’s a long story, but with any luck, tomorrow we get a location, and we get him out,” Blanche said, meeting Ginny’s eye, “But it involves taking on the smuggling ring that runs everything illegal in London, and beyond.”

Ginny caught Blanche’s eye, “You had better come back from this. I can’t…”

“I know,” Blanche said, taking a step towards Ginny and kissing her softly, “I can’t either.”

* * *

When Draco got home, it was well after midnight. Number 11 was silent, so he slipped through the secret passageway behind Thaddeus’s portrait and stepped out into the drawing-room of his own home where both Hermione and Sadie were gathered.

“What were you doing next door?” Hermione asked curiously.

“Putting the bike back in the lock-up,” Draco replied, “Theo has a point, it is safer there.”

Hermione smiled knowingly, “How was your night?”

“Awful,” Draco remarked, throwing himself down onto the sofa in-between the two women, “Pretending to be a sleazy bastard like Joseph Fawley is not fun.”

“That’s who you were undercover as?” Hermione asked, wrinkling her nose up.

“I know, but it was a necessary evil,” Draco said offhandedly, “We got some good information. Seamus runs illegal fights every Friday night. I managed to get Joseph Fawley into one in Dublin tomorrow. Harry and Rob are going to go undercover for that one while I help plan the bust to get Theo out.”

Sadie’s eyes widened, “Really?”

Draco nodded, “But don’t get too excited.”

Hermione watched Draco anxiously, “The plan is to get a tracker on Seamus at the fight tomorrow, so he leads us back to Lucia. Then we storm their base, wherever that may be, but it’s not going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination. We’ll be outnumbered, and we have no idea how powerful Lucia is.”

“Draco,” Hermione said, “Are you saying that we could lose someone for real, to get Theo out?”

“There’s a real chance, yes,” Draco answered, “Which is why Shep told us to come home and spend the night with the people that we love.”

Sadie made to move, but Draco didn’t let her, “Which is why I’m glad that both of you are here.”

She met his eye and said, “Just promise me something?”

Draco looked at her, “If I can.”

“Don’t do something stupid or heroic,” Sadie said, “Don’t sacrifice yourself to bring Theo home. You have Ella and Cas, and I couldn’t bear for Hermione to have to go through what I went through so that you could save Theo.”

Hermione grabbed Draco’s hand, “You will get him out. I have complete faith in you and the people you’ll be taking on that job with you.”

Draco wished he had the same amount of faith in himself. He sighed and got to his feet, “I’m going to go into Ella’s bedroom and kiss her goodnight, and when Cas wakes up for his early morning bottle, I’ll give it to him. I just…I want to be able to say goodbye. I don’t…I don’t want there to be any loose ends if I die like there was when Theo…”

He couldn’t bring himself to say anymore.

“Hermione, you know I…you know how much I love you and how grateful I am for everything that we have, don’t you?”

“Of course I do,” Hermione said, standing up and kissing Draco lightly.

“And Sadie…” Draco looked at her for a long moment, “I’m so sorry for giving up on him and for…everything. I…”

“I know, Draco,” Sadie said. She got to her feet and hugged him tightly, “I know.”

* * *

“Rob, as my superior…permission to do something illegal?”

Rob raised an eyebrow at him, “More illegal than using blood magic to track Finnigan?”

“Technically that’s ethically frowned upon, not illegal,” Harry pointed out.

“Harry, what are you thinking about doing?” Rob asked bluntly.

“I need to go home tonight, just for a couple of hours,” Harry confessed, “And using the apparition centre is going to take too long and be too risky. If I take the shortest route across the Irish sea, it’s 10 miles, and I know Neville has managed to apparate the 20 miles over the English Channel to France before.”

“The English Channel isn’t as choppy as the Irish sea,” Rob reminded Harry.

“I know, but I’m confident that I can do it.”

“Right,” Rob said, looking Harry in the eye, “We’ve got a deal if you let me apparate home too. We’ve both got families, and we both know how dangerous this raid is gonna be if we manage to get that tracker on Finnigan.”

Harry nodded, “Let’s do it.”

* * *

When Harry walked into Potter Manor at 1 am, he was relatively sure that Daphne would be asleep and alone, so he got a slight surprise when he saw Neville in his kitchen.

“Hey!”

Neville jumped and spilt tea down himself, “Shouldn’t you be in Dublin?”

“Yeah, I did a Neville and rashly apparated across a body of water,” Harry said with a sheepish grin, “What are you doing here?”

“My wife is here with your wife, so what’s the use in going home alone?” Neville asked with a roll of his eyes.

Harry chuckled, “Where are they?”

“Upstairs,” Neville answered, “Daphne’s feeding Thea and Andie had a nightmare, Lil was just reading her a story to get her back to sleep.”

Harry leant in the doorway, “You know why I’m back, don’t you?”

Neville nodded, “Shits hitting the fan tomorrow, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I reckon so,” Harry replied. He met Neville’s eye, “Look, Neville…if anything does go bad…you know…I mean, I know we’re not like Draco and Theo, but I love you like a brother, and I just…need you to know that.”

Neville smiled, “Eloquent.”

“You’ve met me, yeah?”

Neville laughed, “I love you too mate. You want a cup of tea?”

“Nah,” Harry said, “I need to talk to Daphne. You should do the same with Lil, say goodbye…just in case.”

“Do you know something I don’t?” Neville asked, his eyes scanning Harry’s, “You’re being very morbid.”

“I just have a bad feeling that if we manage to get Theo out, we’ll pay the price,” Harry said quietly, “I can’t explain it.”

“Your bad feelings aren’t normally wrong though,” Neville said,

“I know.”

“I’ll make sure I say something to Lilly that counts,” Neville promised, “You better go find Daphne.”

“I’m going to check in on the kids first,” Harry said. He sighed heavily and got to his feet, “If anything does happen to either of us, let’s promise not to be like Sadie and Draco.”

“I’d do everything I could to be there for Daphne without snogging her,” Neville promised with a slight smile.

“Same, for Lil,” Harry said with an amused smile.

On that note, he headed upstairs and slipped into Teddy’s room on the first floor. He smiled when he saw his oldest son; his bedroom was adorned in Puddlemere paraphernalia, he was Quidditch mad. He was currently lying in the middle of his bed, snoring loudly.

“Love you, Ted,” Harry said in a whisper, pulling the covers up over him. He tiptoed out of the bedroom and made his way up to the second floor where his younger children slept.

Their bedrooms had a connecting door through what had once been a Jack and Jill bathroom. It was a shared toy storage area now, but the two toddlers were very rarely in the correct bedrooms by the time Daphne or Harry went to get them in the morning.

Alastor was fast asleep in his bed. He didn’t even stir when Harry walked in. All the same, Harry pulled his covers up and put his favourite cuddly toy next to his head, “I love you, Al,” he murmured. The little boy shuffled in his sleep but didn’t wake up.

Harry walked through the messy, shared playroom to Andrea’s room, and he was met with a sweet sight. Lilly was sitting by his daughter's bed, singing softly to her.

She looked up when she heard the door. A frown formed on her face when she saw Harry.

“I know,” Harry whispered, “I’m supposed to be in Dublin.”

He knelt next to the cot by Lilly’s side, “But I just needed to come home and see everyone before…the next stage.”

Lilly didn’t question him on it any further, not when they were in Andrea’s bedroom. Harry looked away from the Ravenclaw woman and leant into Andreas cot, “I love you, Andie, sleep tight.”

She mumbled in her sleep but said no more. Harry got his feet and opened the door into the main corridor; Lilly followed him out silently.

“Thanks, Lil,” Harry said, smiling at her a little sadly, “For helping Daphne through everything that you have. I don’t know what she’d do without you. I don’t know what either of us would do.”

“Harry, you’re freaking me out,” Lilly whispered as they stood in the corridor together, “It kind of sounds like you’re saying goodbye.”

“I’m just making sure there are no loose ends in case the worst happens tomorrow,” Harry admitted, “It’s not a simple bust, Lil.”

“I know that,” Lilly confessed, “And I won’t be on it with you, it will be Clara.”

“Because you can’t be objective?” Harry guessed.

“Something like that,” Lilly shrugged, “You ought to talk to Daphne if things are as bad as you say.”

“I will,” Harry said. He pulled Lilly into a hug and kissed her on the cheek, “Thank you,” he said with a note of finality before slipping into his bedroom.

Daphne looked up when she saw him, “I thought I heard voices in the hall, but I didn’t think it could be you. Aren’t you supposed to be in Dublin?”

“I am, but I came home,” Harry said honestly, “Not for long, I need to make this as brief as possible, but I needed to see you.”

Daphne’s eyes darkened, “Harry-”

“I can’t lie to you, Daphne,” Harry cut her off, “What’s happening tomorrow is dangerous. I don’t know if we’ll all get out, I don’t know if we’ll get Theo out. I can’t guarantee to bring all my men back in one piece.”

Daphne said nothing as he sat down on the edge of the bed and looked her in the eye, “This is the most dangerous case I’ve had since I joined the Aurors. The last time the stakes were this high…”

“Tracey and Dean died,” Daphne said quietly.

“Yeah,” Harry agreed, “So I just had to see the kids, kiss them, tell them that I love them. I needed to say goodbye to you and Nev, and Lil because if the worst happens, I don’t want there to be loose ends like there was with Theo.”

Daphne pulled him onto the bed and kissed him hard. He got a shiver down his spine from the intensity of the kiss, “I love you, and I believe in you. You’re the most powerful wizard I know, and you’ll come home.”

Harry wished he had as much faith in himself as Daphne had in him. He shuffled to the edge of the bed and looked into the bassinet at Thea who was fast asleep, “I love you, baby girl,” he murmured, “And everything I do is to make a better world for you and your brothers and sister to grow up in.”

Daphne pressed herself against his back and kissed the side of his neck, “I love you, Harry and I know I swore that love was unconditional, but if you throw yourself in front of a killing curse for someone who doesn’t deserve it, I’m going to scream and curse at your memory.”

Harry turned around and kissed her lips, “I won’t. I’ve got too much to come home to.”

* * *

“This is more serious than you’re letting on, isn’t it?”

Neville looked up. Lilly was standing in the kitchen doorway, surveying him.

“What gave it away?”

“Harry,” Lilly admitted, “He came back from Dublin to kiss his kids and tell them that he loves them. He hugged me and said ‘thank you’ in that way that means ‘I love you, but I don’t know how to say it’ then he disappeared to talk to Daphne.”

“He told me he loved me,” Neville said with an amused smile, “Flat out, ‘Neville I love you like a brother, you know that right?’ and I mean, of course, I know that but the fact he felt the need to say it…”

“This case is that dangerous?”

Neville nodded, “Yeah, it looks like it. This girl, she’s dangerous and terrifying. The best way I had it described to me was, imagine a dark Daphne with Lilly’s brains.”

Lilly raised an eyebrow, “So she’s what? Super smart, highly logical?”

“And very resourceful,” Neville added, “Seamus is her lapdog.”

“That would hardly take a rocket scientist,” Lilly scoffed, “Just a pretty girl.”

Neville looked down into his empty mug, “I’m reading tea leaves, that’s the point of paranoia I’m at.”

“Yeah?” Lilly raised an eyebrow at him, “What do they say?”

“That I’m shit at reading tea leaves,” Neville said, looking up at Lilly with an amused smile, “But I love you and if the worst happens tomorrow, promise you’ll be okay without me?”

Lilly sighed softly, “I can’t promise that because although I’d learn how to live without you, I’d never be okay. I need you to promise me something, though.”

Neville looked into her eyes, and he had never seen them swim with such uncertainty.

“Anything,” He promised.

“Don’t do anything stupid or heroic,” Lilly said as tears swam in her eyes, “Just this once, look after yourself and make sure you come home.”

Neville responded by leaning down and capturing her lips in a kiss. When she drew back, Lilly had tears running down her cheeks.

“Lil…you don’t…you hardly ever cry,” Neville said, kissing her lightly.

“Sometimes the occasion warrants it,” Lilly said quietly.

Neville opened his mouth to say something more, but then the front door shut. Lilly’s eyes widened, “One minute, I need to talk to Harry before he goes back to Dublin.”

She ran out of the kitchen without another word, and by the time she got outside, Harry was already nearing the gates.

“Harry!” Lilly shouted as she dashed after him in bare feet, “Wait!”

He heard her and stopped, turning around just before he stepped over the boundary of the Manor.

“Lilly…what’s going on?”

Lilly came to a stop and drew in a breath, “I need to tell you something before you leave.”

Harry had his hand raised to open the gates, but he dropped it at these words.

“I’m pregnant,” Lilly said breathily, “And Neville doesn’t know. You can’t tell him, okay? I’ve been pregnant before, and bad things have happened, and he can’t go into this mission with that on his mind, or he might never come home.”

Harry nodded, “I mean…yeah, of course, I won’t tell him but…Lil, congratulations.”

“Don’t say that,” Lilly said fiercely, “Not yet. Don’t say anything like that until I know it’s going to be okay.”

“Okay,” Harry said, swallowing his words.

“I just need you to promise me something,” Lilly said, a fire burning in her eyes.

Harry knew what she was going to ask, so he nodded.

“Bring him home,” Lilly said, “Whatever it takes, you bring him home, Harry. I need him, and if by some miracle this pregnancy doesn’t destroy me like the last two, this baby is going to need him, so I need you to bring him home and if you don’t…you don’t even want to know what I’ll do to you.”

Harry grabbed her shoulders and looked her straight in the eye, “I’ll bring him home, I promise you that. I’ll bring him home alive. I’ll make sure he gets to raise that baby, I swear it on my life.”

Lilly swallowed and pushed herself onto her tiptoes then she wrapped her arms around him and murmured, “Thank you.”

* * *

_Knock. Knock._

“Come in,” Daphne said, stifling a yawn.

Neville stepped into the bedroom with a cup of tea, “I thought you might appreciate this.”

Daphne smiled, “Thanks, Neville.”

He placed it on her bedside table and said, “So my wife just ran outside in her bare feet to say goodbye to Harry.”

Daphne laughed, “I think it was more a case of, your wife just ran outside in her bare feet to tell Harry that he had better bring you home.”

Neville glanced out of the window, “And now they’re hugging.”

“They’re huggers,” Daphne said with a roll of her eyes, “Lilly hugs inanimate objects after a few too many glasses of wine.”

Neville chuckled and sat down on the edge of the bed, “This whole thing with Theo…it’s brought us closer, hasn’t it?”

“I think so,” Daphne said, leaning against the headboard and sipping her tea, “I think it’s made all of us appreciate each other more, but that’s hardly surprising, is it?”

Neville pondered on this as he looked down at Thea, “I don’t know. I mean I feel like we’re a family, all of us, you know? And losing one member of our family would be hellish.”

Daphne nodded as they heard the front door shut downstairs, “She’ll be up here in a minute complaining she’s got sore feet, you realise that?”

Neville smiled and listened to the footsteps on the staircase as they got closer. Unlike Neville, she didn’t bother knocking; she just stepped into the bedroom.

“You’re in bed with my best friend,” Lilly remarked calmly.

“You just chased after mine in your bare feet like a scene out of one of those shitty romcoms you force me to watch,” Neville countered.

Daphne grinned at the interplay between them, “Sore feet?”

“Yeah, what’s with the gravel path?” Lilly complained.

Daphne shook her head in amusement, “You’re an idiot, and if you guys want to stay here, that’s fine, but I’d suggest you go to the guest room across the hall because this little demon is gonna be attached to my boob all night.”

Lilly grinned at the shade of red Neville’s face turned, “Come on, we all need to get some sleep before tomorrow if it’s going to be as big a day as Harry reckons.”

* * *

When Daphne padded downstairs in the middle of the night for a glass of water, after Thea had woken her up for _another_ feed, she saw an abandoned teacup on the worktop. She was about to pick it up and throw the tealeaves in the bin when she noticed a distinctive shape inside the mug.

The sight shook her so much that the cup slipped out of her hand and shattered on the marble floor.

“The grim,” She whispered in the eery silence of the kitchen.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	10. Miles From Where You Are

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:  
> Set the Fire to the Third Bar by Snow Patrol.

The day in Kildare was counter-productive. They didn’t find out much of note, but they did tire themselves out. That was why they headed back to their temporary base (Rob’s old friend's house) and napped in the afternoon so that they would be fresh for the night ahead.

At 6 pm, they had the discussion that they had both been thinking about all day.

“Which one of us takes it?” Rob asked, holding up a hipflask of polyjuice potion that had been portkeyed over to them.

Harry cocked his head at Rob, “Me?”

“I was thinking the same but well-volunteered kid,” Rob said, patting Harry on the back.

“It makes the most sense,” Harry shrugged, “I’m younger and fitter than you.”

“Yep,” Rob agreed, “Do you know how these kinds of fights tend to go down?”

“Last man standing?” Harry guessed.

“Yeah,” Rob said, “Seamus is probably going to be that last man which means you’re going to have to beat everyone else before you get to him.”

“And I can’t make it look easy, or he’ll get suspicious,” Harry finished, “I’m going to have to take a few hits.”

“Yeah but if we get a tracker on Seamus the London team is going to be over here in a shot, and they’ll have a Healer with them,” Rob reminded him.

“It definitely won’t be Lilly, will it?”

“Wouldn’t have thought so,” Rob admitted, “In a situation like this, there should be two Healers, and the prime candidates would be Clara and Lilly but Lilly’s too involved.”

Harry breathed a sigh of relief, “Well, there are other Healers besides those two.”

Rob nodded, “Anyway, you’re right. You can’t make it look easy, and you’re going to have a duel a certain way. Don’t use expelliarmus or stupefy to take an opponent down, that’s the way you’re _taught_ to duel, this is dirty duelling. You take them down by knocking them out physically or with a blasting charm, something like that.”

Harry nodded as he absorbed everything that Rob was saying.

“You can’t use spells that only you would know, so no Sectumsempra or levicorpus, right?”

Harry nodded again.

“And minimal shield charms. Aurors are taught to shield, most people only know basic shield charms and prefer to duck to avoid most curses,” Rob finished.

“Right, got it,” Harry said with a nod, “It’s not fight to kill, is it?”

“Nah, more like fight to seriously maim but when you fight like that, accidents happen,” Rob said, meeting Harry’s eye, “So be careful. You’ve got two wives, four kids and Neville to provide for.”

Harry snorted, “Shut up.”

Rob smiled at him but said, “I mean it, kid.”

“I know you do,” Harry confessed. He got to his feet and looked at the get-up in front of him “Am I really expected to duel in this?”

“It’s what Joe Fawley would duel in, so yeah,” Rob responded, patting the younger man on the back and leaving the bedroom.

Harry shook his head at the get-up. It consisted of a white shirt, dragonhide trousers and vest, and knee-high leather boots.

“I’m going to look so fucking gay,” Harry muttered as he began to get dressed.

* * *

Harry pushed down his nerves and held out his arm for Blanche. They were both under polyjuice, him as Joseph Fawley and her as Viv Young; a squib from the Closes turned prostitute.

She took his arm, and they stepped through the wards into the old building. It looked like some sort of art studio that had been abandoned. Seamus’s boys had set up a duelling platform in the centre and on either side, witches and wizards bustled to get the best view.

“Alright Fawley, you made it.”

Harry looked up, “Yeah, I did.”

“This your girl?” The man asked as he looked Blanche up and down.

“This is her,” Harry agreed.

“How do you fancy making double the money you did last night love?”

“What for?” Blanche asked.

“You ever been a ring girl?”

Blanche shook her head.

“It’s a piece of piss. You just need to wear this and look hot.”

Blanche grinned, “Yeah, okay.”

The henchman smirked, “Don’t worry Fawley, we’ll take care of her.”

Harry didn’t let his calm expression wafer as Blanche was led away from him.

_“Don’t worry. We’ve got a tracker in her, and we’re monitoring her vitals,”_ Neville’s voice said in Harry’s ear.

Harry couldn’t respond so instead, he headed over to the registration area.

* * *

“ _Rob. You get that tracking beetle into Harry?”_

“Yep,” Rob whispered as he stood at a makeshift bar in the old building where the fight was taking place.

There was a gallery up above, and that was where Seamus was. Rob was trying to keep an eye on him without making it look too obvious. He was glamoured up and was pretending to be one of the wizards who was paying to watch the fight.

“ _Got it, his vitals just came online_ ,” John’s voice buzzed in Rob’s ear.

Rob glanced over at Harry who was now disguised as Joseph Fawley. He was standing with the rest of the contestants. Not including Seamus, there were nine of them, Rob figured that Seamus was the tenth.

It all kicked off when Seamus got to his feet and yelled for silence. Everyone looked up to him; he hadn’t changed much since his schooldays. He had shaved all of his hair off and was wearing a three-piece suit and a flat cap.

“Alright! Since we’ve got some interesting new competitors tonight, I’m changing things up.”

“ _Fuck!_ ” John’s voice said into Rob’s ear.

“How about a battle royale?”

There was a lot of cheering as the duelling platform was turned into a large, square stage, “The last man standing fights me!”

Rob cursed internally and glanced over at Harry. It was hard to tell if Seamus had done this because he knew someone was onto him or because he was a bit insane. Harry didn’t look overly worried, but that wasn’t necessarily a good sign.

Rob watched warily as Blanche stepped out in the skimpiest red and gold bikini possible holding up a sign saying “ROUND ONE.”

He swallowed, and the London team could tell that he was anxious from the stats they were getting from his tracker.

_“Try not to worry so much,”_ Neville’s voice said in his ear, _“Harry’s got this. I know it’s not what we were expecting but Harry bottles up his emotions and right now he’s dealing with Theo being gone, the fact he missed the birth of his last kid and the fact he’s away from his family. I think in about 30 seconds you’re going to see exactly why it was that he was able to kill Voldemort.”_

Rob held his glass of firewhiskey to his mouth, his heart beating wildly because the battle was about to begin. Nine wizards in a ring with each other.

“Round one!” Blanche called cheerfully, “Once three men have been knocked out; we take a break!”

A bell rang, and the battle commenced. Rob hated this; he wasn’t a young man anymore; he was nearly 44. He had worked in CPS for so long now that he had gotten used to that pace of life. He thought he was done with this kind of work, with standing here watching two kids he liked putting their lives at risk. It was harder with Harry because he had really mentored him and as much as he pretended not to, he cared about him.

Blanche played the part as she sat on the sidelines, flirting with Seamus’s henchmen.

And Harry, well Neville had been right about Harry. He was bloody brilliant from the get-go, he followed Rob’s advice and didn’t use advanced shield charms. He put up a basic one and refreshed it when it fell, but he made sure to take minor hits from cutting curses or other charms that would only inflict minor injuries in-between refreshing the shield charm, so he didn’t look like a professional. He used mild hexes and curses, nothing that would cause serious injury but not schoolboy jinxes either.

It took around four minutes for the first three guys to get knocked out. A bell rang, and the remaining six were handed water and given a two-minute break to heal any significant injuries that they had gotten. Harry healed a deep gash on his arm shakily, he could have done a near-perfect job of it, but that would look suspicious.

“Round two!” Blanche said, jumping up and down with another sign, “Once three more men have been knocked out, we go to round three!”

The combatants threw their water out of the ring, and the bell rang to signify the start of the second round. It was easier this time because there were fewer opponents. Harry used similar tactics from round one, but when entrail-expelling curses began to get casually tossed about, he decided to up the intensity of his own curses.

He used a cascading jinx which bounced from one combatant to the next, then the next and so forth. It left them all with gashes across their face and knocked one out. Then he let himself get hit with some debris from a blasting charm.

Rob gripped the barstool tightly as he watched the four combatants advance on Harry.

“Deprimo!”

The ground beneath one of them gave way, and he fell into the hole with a yell. Harry took a step back as a scorching spell flew past his head, catching his hair very slightly. He hit himself to put it out, but that lost him precious time.

“Ventus!”

Harry caught himself and dove out of the way of the spell. He turned around and yelled, “Expulso!” knocking back a third combatant.

A bell rang to signify the end of the round, and Harry downed the water that had been given to him. He wiped the sweat from his brow and glanced up at Seamus; he was nodding and looking impressed. With any luck, once Harry got through this next round, he would get to fight Seamus.

“Round three!” Blanche cried, “Last man standing!”

Harry eyed up the last two combatants. One was huge and looked like he was at the point of resorting to physical violence, and the other one was taller and skinnier than him.

A bell rang, and the final round began. The big guy ran straight for Harry, who rolled to get out of the way and yelled, “Bombarda!”

The curse blasted him out of the ring, but at the same time, the tall man had fired, “Avis!” at Harry

By the time he got a shield charm up, his face stung from hundreds of tiny cuts inflicted by the transfigured birds. Harry vanished the creatures away and got into a duelling stance. The crowd were very excited now that it was down to one on one duelling.

The irritating thing was that Harry could have won that duel easily if he had been allowed to duel as himself, but he wasn’t. As such, it took ten minutes of back and forth, allowing himself to get hit by a couple of spells before he eventually finished the duel off with, “Everte Statum!”

Blanche grinned and grabbed Harry’s hand, “Our winner! Joseph Fawley!”

The minute Blanche dropped Harry’s hand, Seamus _literally_ dropped down into the ring from the balcony above.

“Winner duels the boss.”

Harry drew his wand again, but Seamus laughed, “Expelliarmus!”

Harry’s wand flew into Seamus’s hand. He threw it and his own wand to one of his henchmen and said, “Muggle fighting Fawley, no magic.”

_“Good thing you’ve got a habit of getting into bar fights every time someone looks at Daphne a bit funny, eh?”_ Neville’s voice said in Harry’s ear.

Harry had to struggle not to smirk.

“Reckon I can take you,” Harry said confidently, “I’m a half-blood, I’ve spent my whole life scrapping.”

“You and me both,” Seamus said, sizing Harry up. In the form of Joseph Fawley, he was slightly taller and broader than he was as Harry.

Rob watched from the sidelines; he tapped his fingers absentmindedly against the bar.

“ _Your vitals are spiking like mad. Try not to worry so much,”_ John’s voice said.

It was easier said than done though. John wasn’t here. He wasn’t about to watch Harry get brutally destroyed by Seamus Finnigan in a fight.

The bell rang, and the fight began. Harry had to play things very safe here. He needed to wait until Rob was nearby and then he would have to injure Seamus badly enough to make him bleed. Rob would subtly harvest his blood, and they would be able to track him from there.

Seamus fought like a berserker; his arms were continually swinging with no apparent pattern. At first, this made it hard for Harry to fight back, and he took a good few hits from the Irishman. Once he managed to work out Seamus’s rhythm; however, he was finally able to fight back. He bided his time until Rob was in position.

Then Harry seized his chance. Rob was right by the edge of the ring, and as Seamus lunged at Harry like a wild dog, Harry punched him in the nose as hard as he could.

Seamus cried in pain, “Me fucking nose!”

Harry shoved him back against the rope wall of the ring, right into Rob who quickly got the blood into a vial.

Seamus bounced back up and spat out a mouthful of blood then he lunged at Harry, and this time, Harry let him. He knew that Seamus had to win this fight. If Harry won it would embarrass Seamus and he might well kill him for that.

So he cried out in pain as Seamus grabbed him in a headlock and threw him to the ground, twisting his neck to the point that Harry genuinely worried for a moment that he might break it. But then Seamus placed his knee on Harry’s lower back and let go of his neck. He pushed himself to his feet and pressed down hard on Harry’s back.

“Reigning champ!” He roared, wiping the blood from his nose, “But you broke my fucking nose, Fawley!”

Seamus looked impressed rather than angry about this fact. He put his arm around Harry and said, “I’ve got a nice Healer on the side, she’ll sort me nose out. MacDougall says you hate purebloods?”

“Yeah,” Harry agreed, “Fucking scum the lot of them. Have you seen my pureblood family? They touch up young girls and marry their daughters off at 16.”

“Bastards, the lot of them,” Seamus agreed, “Your girl made a good ring girl.”

Harry glanced down at Blanche, “She does what she’s told. A real gem, found her in the closes.”

“She a squib?”

“Yeah, you got a use for her?” Harry asked.

“Oh, I can think of a couple,” Seamus said with a grin, “I’ll pay you well. Come on; we’ll talk over whiskey.”

Harry’s heart sank, but he couldn’t blow his cover. He sat up on the gallery with Seamus while he had his nose healed. Then Seamus handed him a glass of Irish whiskey, and he sipped it as slowly as possible while they talked ‘business’ for a good half an hour.

* * *

When Harry eventually managed to get out, he had to leave Blanche in the building with Seamus. He was aware of Rob’s eyes on him, but they couldn’t talk freely until they were several streets away from the building where the fight had taken place.

Rob yanked him into an empty car park and hissed, “You fucking left her there!”

“Neville got a message to her,” Harry whispered, “She’s going to slip away the first chance she gets and she’ll meet us back at base.”

“And what if she can’t slip away?” Rob hissed.

“She’s a good Auror, she’ll manage it,” Harry muttered, “I did my part, you did your part.”

“So she needs to fuck that piece of scum to do her part? You wouldn’t be saying that if it were you having to cheat on your wife to get the job done, would you?” Rob asked him angrily, “One rule for us blokes and another for the girls, is it?”

_“Rob, as much as the female Aurors in the department will appreciate you advocating their rights, Blanche is out,”_ John’s voice said, resonating in both Harry and Rob’s ears.

“See?” Harry asked pointedly.

Rob rolled his eyes, “I hate this, alright? I fucking hate being back in the field like this. Do you think I enjoyed watching the kid I mentored fighting for his life? Cause I didn’t, I really fucking didn’t!”

_“Calm down Wolfie, we love you too,”_ Neville said, partly in jest but with a serious undertone, _“You guys need to get back to base and see if you can activate a tracking charm from that blood. We don’t know how careful Lucia is. There might be warding properties in his blood.”_

“Will do,” Harry said. He rolled his eyes at Rob, and they apparated across Dublin to their hide-out. They had sent Rob’s muggle friend away for the weekend; he was under the impression that Rob was MI5 and needed to use the house as a safe house.

They stepped through the wards and saw Blanche sitting in the living room.

“Hey,” Harry said with a smile, “You got out.”

“Yep, take this,” Blanche said.

Harry knocked the potion back, it pushed him back into his original form, and that form was covered in minor injuries.

“Sit down and let me heal you,” Blanche ordered.

Harry did as she commanded. He sat down next to her on the sofa, and she spoke as she began to heal the cuts, bruises and burns on his face and neck, “I managed to get out relatively quickly, thank Salazar.”

“How?” Rob asked from the doorway.

“I told him I needed to go to the bathroom to freshen up,” Blanche said with a smirk, “I wrote on the mirror in lipstick ‘ _I might be Fawley’s bitch, but I’m not yours’_ then I escaped through the window.”

Harry grinned, “Classy.”

Blanche’s smirk widened, “Take your top off.”

Harry pulled off the vest and unbuttoned his shirt. While Blanche set one of his broken ribs and checked Harry’s lungs, Rob began to set the coffee table up with what they needed to track Seamus.

He laid out a map of Ireland and stuck it to the table with a semi-permanent sticking charm. Then he held the vial of blood above the map and murmured a spell that made it hover there.

“Right, I don’t even want to know how you know how to do dark, ancient blood magic,” Rob said, looking at Harry, “But be my guest.”

Harry got to his feet and raised his wand. He took a breath, shut his eyes and pointed his wand at the vial of blood, _“Sanguine inimicum. Audite vocem meam.”_

Harry opened his eyes and saw that the blood had begun to bubble. Rob was a little bit concerned by the flash of red he saw in Harry’s eyes the moment after he opened them.

Harry moved the vial of bubbling blood, so it was at an angle in the air then said, “ _Invenio Seamus Finnigan.”_

The trio watched as Seamus’s blood trickled out of the vial onto the map. It landed in the centre of Dublin and stayed there for a few minutes then it began to swirl.

“He’s apparating,” Harry said.

The blood swirled faster and faster then shot across the map and formed a small puddle just outside Kildare.

“The farm in Kildare that we couldn’t find,” Rob said, “We were looking in the wrong place. I thought it would have been to the west, but I didn’t think to look to the north. I was going with where the farms are now, not where they might have been in the past.”

“Does your friend have any muggle maps?” Harry asked, looking through the bookshelves.

“Yeah, in this drawer probably,” Rob answered. He yanked open a kitchen drawer and pulled out a pile of maps. Harry looked through them and grabbed one that showed historical monuments. He laid it out on the ground and examined the area where the pool of blood stated that Seamus was.

“That’s an unidentified ruined building,” Harry said, pointing to a small square, “But I don’t think it’s their base, I think that is.”

Rob groaned when he saw the cross, “A church?”

“Abandoned, but not a ruin,” Blanche said with a nod, “Good shout.”

“It’s a church? Really? A fucking church,” Rob muttered in disbelief.

Harry ignored Rob and said, “John, Nev? You guys still listening?”

_“Yep, we got that Harry_ ,” John said, “ _You reckon a church just out of Kildare?”_

“Pretty sure,” Harry replied, “So we need every Auror that we can trust over here as soon as possible. We’re going to hit them at dawn when they aren’t expecting it.”

There was a pause, then John said, “Agreed. Who do we trust?”

“Ophelia,” Blanche said instantly, “Without a doubt.”

“And Percy,” Harry added.

“Mitch too,” Rob said.

“Jack, of course,” Harry continued.

_“Jack can’t come. The Head Auror and the Assistant Head don’t go into raids together. If we both died, there would be a huge vacuum of power in the department,”_ John’s voice said.

“What about Sorenson?” Blanche asked.

_“Not sure if we can trust him,”_ Draco’s voice came back, “ _We can’t take the risk.”_

“He’ll kill you if it turns out he’s on our side, Theo is his brother-in-law,” Blanche reminded Draco.

“ _Yeah well I’ll take my chances,”_ Draco said dryly.

Harry cut in before an argument could begin, “Can you commandeer some blueprints of the church on your way over here? If we’re going in there with limited numbers, I want to go in prepared.”

“Agreed. Sit tight, and we’ll be with you as soon as possible. London, out.”

* * *

Back in London, it was a frenzied job getting everyone on board. They called in all of the Aurors that they trusted but as it was the middle of the night, not all of them responded straight away.

Percy was the first in which was unsurprising because Harry knew how late he tended to stay up reading after Susan and Addison had gone to bed. Cameron dragged himself in next then Ophelia sauntered in, yawning her head off.

“Who are we waiting for?” Draco asked, looking around the room.

“Cauldwell,” John answered.

“Sorenson?”

“No, Clara,” John said with a shake of his head, “We’ve got Mitch whose fully qualified as a Healer as well as an Auror, but we need _two_ Healers.”

“Why don’t we have Lilly?” Draco asked, “She’s the best; she always works with Clara.”

“I’m not taking couples on this one,” John said, meeting Neville’s eye, “It’s not worth the risk.”

“Try telling this irrational bastard that,” Clara said as she stepped into the office, tying her hair up as she did so.

“She got a cryptic message about the taskforce being ready to move and needing a healer, but you didn’t call me,” Sorenson said as he stepped in after her, “And you expect me just to be okay with that?”

“Yeah Sorenson, I do,” John snapped, “Because I spent years doing it when Elizabeth got called in. You have to think about your family, what happens to Oscar if you both die on the job?”

“It’s never bothered you before,” Sorenson argued, “All the years Clara and I have been together, you’ve never minded sending us out on missions together so what’s so bad about this one?”

“If I’d selected you for the task force, you’d know,” John said irritably, “But I didn’t, and it’s need-to-know so go home, Sorenson.”

“Like hell, I will!” Sorenson snapped, “You think I’m fucking stupid? I work Organised Crime, I’ve heard rumours about Joseph Fawley causing a scene. Well, hows he doing that if he's in a fucking safe house? This taskforce is about Finnigan and the guys who killed Theo, isn’t it?”

“What part of go home do you not get?”

Sorenson glared at his boss, “With all due respect sir, Theo was my brother-in-law, and I want to be on the task force that takes down the bastards who took my niece and nephews dad away from them.”

John tore his eyes away from Sorenson and looked at Draco, “Think it’s genuine?”

“Yeah,” Draco admitted, “I think it is.”

“Of course it’s fucking genuine!” Sorenson snapped, “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Because your Junior Auror is a dirty Auror and she’s the reason your brother-in-law is missing,” John snapped.

“Missing?” More than one voice echoed.

“Missing,” John confirmed, “We discovered a few days ago that Theo isn’t dead. Junior Auror Lucia Cross is working with Seamus Finnigan, and they are holding Theo in a church in Kildare. We’re heading over to Dublin now to join Rob, Harry and Blanche who have been working undercover over there. We’re going to get a plan together and strike at dawn.”

There was silence.

“This is an incredibly dangerous mission and as such, a voluntary one,” John finished, “So if anyone does not wish to come with us, leave now.”

Nobody did.

John fixed his gaze on Sorenson and Clara, “If you both die and you orphan that kid, your brother-in-law will never forgive you if we get him out.”

“I think we’ll take our chances,” Sorenson said, glancing at his wife, “Don’t you?”

“I think so, yeah,” Clara replied.

John shook his head irritably, “Suit up for an undercover raid. We’re going to Dublin.”

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	11. We Are Forty Against Hundreds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first scene of this chapter features a few songs. The best way to read this scene is while listening to those songs on Spotify/Youtube/etc. So here are the songs in order:
> 
> Ireland by Nathan Carter   
> Sunshine on Leith by The Proclaimers  
> Caledonia by Dougie MacLean  
> The Gambler by Kenny Rogers  
> Bread and Roses by John Denver  
> Scarborough Fair by Celtic Woman  
> Take Me Home, Country Roads by John Denver
> 
> Really hits you in the heartstrings if you listen while you read, trust me. It’s how I edited this chapter, and I CRIED even though I wrote the damn thing lol!
> 
> ALSO: I know the song "Ireland" only came out in 2019 and this is set in 2005 so let's just pretend it's an old folk song for the sake of the story please, lol! 
> 
> Thanks, guys 😊
> 
> P.S: The chapter title is also from the song:  
> Ireland by Nathan Carter.

When the London team got to Dublin, it took an hour to brief them fully. Then they poured over blueprints of the church while they went through endless cups of coffee. They had no idea how many people they would have to face, but they could hazard a guess at where their opponents would be. The most defensive position in the church was the pulpit, so they expected to find some resistance there, as well as at the perimeter.

“Is there a blueprint of the lower floor?” Harry asked.

John slid it out from underneath and said, “Yeah, that’s the crypt.”

“That’s where Theo will be,” Harry said, looking at two small rooms underneath the front of the church.

“That’s morbid.”

Everyone jumped and turned around when they heard the voice. Sumner was standing in the doorway with his arms crossed, “Moving out without me, are we?”

“Sir, you can’t be here,” John said, “With all due respect, it’s a breach of protocol.”

“And I don’t often breach protocol,” Jack agreed as he stepped into the room, “But one of our own is in trouble, and you all know that we’re going to be outnumbered.”

They couldn’t argue on that front, but John still looked worried, “But sir, if we both die-”

“Sheppard, do you really think I would come here without a plan? If I die, then I choose you as my successor and Potter will take your job.”

Harry looked up in surprise at that but said nothing.

John opened his mouth, about to argue that if they both died, the Auror department would have no clear leadership and a civil war would break out. However, before he could, Jack continued, “And if, god forbid, both Sheppard and I don’t make it out... I hate to say this, I really do but Rob, you’re in charge.”

Rob appeared to choke on thin air, “What?”

“In the event of a power vacuum, clear leadership needs to be established,” Sumner said calmly, “People don’t like the person who has to reign order in and since people already don’t like you, it ought to be you.”

Rob nodded nonchalantly, “For a second there I thought that was the moment where you say, ‘Rob, I respect you. You’re a damn good Auror, and I’ve been too hard on you’, but then you had to go and ruin it with an insult.”

Jack cracked a smile at that, “You are a damn good Auror, and that’s why you’re partnering up with me for the raid.”

Rob raised an eyebrow at Harry. The younger man chuckled in response and looked at Jack, “Are we not operating in our usual pairs?”

“As much as possible, we will,” Jack answered, looking down at the plans of the church, “But not all of us _can_. Mitch, you’ll partner up with Clara. It means you’ll spend more time on the sidelines, but you’re a Healer today more than an Auror.”

Cameron nodded.

“Rob, you’re with me. And Shep, you’re with Black,” Sumner ordered.

“I don’t need a babysitter,” Draco scoffed, “Sir.”

“Yes, you do, Black,” Sumner said sternly.

“You do,” John agreed.

“Potter, Longbottom,” Sumner addressed them, “You stick to your pair. Wood, Zabini, stay in your pair as well.”

All four of them nodded. Sumner continued, “Cauldwell and Weasley, you two okay to partner up?”

Sorenson chuckled, “Bit of a change from our school days, eh?”

Percy smiled in amusement, “From the days of you calling me a jessie and shoving me down the staircase? Yeah, I’d say so.”

Sorenson looked sheepish, “Yeah, I was a bit of a dick back then.”

“You’re still a bit of a dick,” John said, shooting Sorenson an amused look.

Harry just looked confused, “What are you two talking about?”

“Sorenson was in Gryffindor,” Percy explained, “In my year. We shared a dorm with Oliver.”

Neville snorted in amusement, but before the matter could be discussed much further, Sumner continued to give them their marching orders. By the time they had a feeble plan in place (which would change when they got to the church no doubt), it was approaching 3 am.

They sat around solemnly, contemplating how they could pass the time until they put their plan into motion at 6 am, just as dawn would begin to crack through the night sky.

Everyone looked up when John spoke, “Do you remember what we did in the first war, to keep morale up?”

Cameron smiled, and Rob nodded, “Yeah.”

Sumner raised an eyebrow, “Rousing the troops, Sheppard?”

“Something like that,” John agreed, catching Rob’s eye.

Rob got to his feet, “Give me a minute.”

The younger members of the group were confused, and this didn’t change when he came back holding a guitar.

“Where did you find that?” Harry asked in surprise.

“This is Ireland, everyone has a guitar,” Rob said, handing it to John.

“Should we start with your old favourite?” John asked his best friend.

Rob grinned, “Oh, go on then.”

John settled the guitar on his lap and began to strum a relatively simple tune.

“ _They say mother earth is breathing_ ,” Rob sang softly, “ _With each wave that finds the shore. Her soul rises in the evening, for to open twilights door_.”

Harry smiled; the song was beautiful and oddly soothing. While Rob sang, he sounded more Irish than he usually did, “ _Her eyes are the stars in heaven, watching o'er us all the while. And her heart it is in Ireland, deep within the Emerald Isle_.”

John continued to strum along, a little more quickly. Rob tapped his foot against the ground, “ _We are forty against hundreds in someone else's bloody war. We know not why we're fighting, or what we're dying for_.”

Harry could see why Rob had sung this during the war, the song was haunting, but it still gave him goosebumps.

“ _They will storm us in the morning when the sunlight turns to sky. Death is waiting for its dance now. Fate has sentenced us to die_ ,” Rob said. He caught John’s eye, and as he strummed faster yet, John joined in with his best friend.

“ _Ireland I am coming home_ ,” The two friends sang together, “ _I can see your rolling fields of green and fences made of stone. I am reaching out, would you take my hand? I'm coming home Ireland_.”

Neville smiled over at Harry. He could feel the double-meaning behind the song too.

“ _Oh the captain he lay bleeding. I can hear him calling me_ ,” Rob sang, “ _These men are yours now for the leading, show them to their destiny_.”

Even Jack seemed to enjoy the camaraderie of the moment. He smiled and tapped his foot along as Rob sang, “ _As I look up all around me, I see the ragged tired and torn. And I tell them to make ready cause we're not waiting for the morn._ ”

At the chorus, John joined in once more, and the two men sang together, “ _Ireland I am coming home. I can see your rolling fields of green, and fences made of stone. I am reaching out, would you take my hand? I'm coming home Ireland_.”

Rob’s tone became more sinister with the last verse of the song because it was very poignant considering what they were going to be doing when dawn broke at 6 am.

_“Now the fog is deep and heavy, as we forge the dark and fear. We can hear their horses breathing as in silence we draw near. There are no words to be spoken. Just a look to say goodbye,”_ Rob caught John’s eyes, _“I draw breath and night is broken as I scream our battle cry.”_

With the final chorus, John joined in once more, “ _Ireland I am coming home. I can see your rolling fields of green, and fences made of stone. I am reaching out, would you take my hand? I'm coming home Ireland_. _I’m coming home, Ireland.”_

John grinned at Rob after they both hit the final long note of the song perfectly, “It’s been years since we’ve done that, and we’ve still got it.”

Rob laughed and wiped his eyes, “I cry every time I hear that song, you know?”

“You’re Irish and proud of it,” Harry said with a grin.

Rob laughed, “Whose up next then? John can play almost anything you ask him to.”

“Don’t suppose you know anything by the Proclaimers?” Percy asked his boss.

“Yeah, what do you want?” John asked.

“Sunshine on Leith,” Percy replied, an amused smile playing on his lips.

John snorted, “Alright. Here we go…”

“ _My heart was broken, my heart was broken_ ,” Percy sang slowly and softly, “ _Sorrow, sorrow, sorrow. My heart was broken, my heart was broken. You saw it, you claimed it, you touched it, you saved it_.”

“ _My tears are drying, my tears are drying_ ,” Percy sang with his eyes closed, “ _Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you_.”

The song was so soft and quiet, but oddly touching, “ _My tears are drying, my tears are drying. Your beauty and kindness made tears clear my blindness_.”

Clara smiled and joined in as John strummed a little louder on the guitar, “ _While I'm worth my room on this earth. I will be with you_.”

Percy shot her a smile as they sang, “ _While the Chief, puts sunshine on Leith. I'll thank him for his work and your birth and my birth_.”

“Beautiful rendition from someone who isn’t a Scot,” Clara said with a smile.

“Ah well, my wife is Scottish,” Percy said with an amused smile, “We live in Perthshire with our crazy highlander of a house-elf.”

Clara laughed, “The Selwyn’s are from Edinburgh originally, but I was raised in the north of England.”

“You want a shot, Clara?” John asked.

Clara shook her head, “No, as you just heard, I don’t have the best range. I’m happy to be a supporting act.”

Harry laughed, “I’ll have a go.”

John smiled, “What do you want?”

“Do you mind if Neville plays for me?” Harry asked.

In response, John handed the guitar to Neville. He transfigured a nearby coaster into a guitar pick and smiled at Harry, “Ready?”

Harry just nodded, and Neville began to tap his foot and strum a very familiar song on the guitar. Harry started to sing, _“I don't know if you can see the changes that have come over me. In these last few days, I've been afraid that I might drift away.”_

Everyone who had gone to Hogwarts loved this song because it reminded them of their home away from home, but it resonated with Harry, Neville and Rob more than most.

“ _So I've been telling old stories, singing songs that make me think about where I came from_ ,” Harry sang, “ _And that's the reasons why I seem so far away today_.”

_“Oh and let me tell you that I love you_ ,” Neville joined in at this point. Harry shot him a smile, “ _That I think about you all the time. Caledonia you're calling me, and now I'm going home.”_

Rob joined in with the next verse, “ _For if I should become a stranger, you know that it would make me more than sad. Caledonia's been everything I've ever had_.”

“ _Oh and I have moved, and I've kept on moving_ ,” Harry sang with conviction, “ _Proved the points that I needed proving. Lost the friends that I needed losing, found others on the way_.”

Rob sang along with the next verse too, “ _I have the kissed ladies and left them crying, stolen dreams, yes there's no denying. I have travelled hard sometimes with conscience flying somewhere with the wind.”_

Once more, Neville joined in for this chorus, but John sang along too, “ _Oh and let me tell you that I love you and that I think about you all the time. Caledonia you're calling me, and now I'm going home.”_

“ _For if I should become a stranger, you know that it would make me more than sad. Caledonia's been everything I've ever had_ ,” They all sang together.

Neville sang the last verse by himself, strumming along on the guitar as he did so, “ _Now I’m sitting here before the fire, the empty room, the forest choir. The flames that couldn’t get any higher. Well they’ve withered, now they’ve gone.”_

Harry watched his best friend thoughtfully, hoping that this wouldn’t be the last time they did this together _, “But I’m steady thinking. My way is clear and I know what I will do tomorrow. When the hands have shaken and the kisses flow, well I will disappear.”_

Rob and John both joined Harry and Neville in that last chorus together, _“Let me tell you that I love you and that I think about you all the time. Caledonia you're calling me, and now I'm going home. For if I should become a stranger, know that it would make me more than sad. Caledonia’s been everything I’ve ever had._

Neville smiled at Harry, “That was pretty good. Have you been practising without me?”

“Singing in the shower,” Harry said with a chuckle.

Neville laughed and handed the guitar back to John.

“Come on then Shep, let’s have some proper folk music,” Sorenson said, “We’ll go back to our days running the underground rebellion together.”

John laughed at that, “You want “ _The Gambler”_ then?”

Sorenson nodded in response, “Just like when we were hiding out underneath Abe’s pub with Wolfie, eh?”

Rob smiled in amusement at the thought. They were, of course, referring to the second wizarding war.

John began to strum a country song, and Sorenson started to sing, “ _On a warm summer's evening. On a train bound for nowhere. I met up with the gambler; we were both too tired to sleep. So we took turns a-starin' out the window at the darkness._ ”

Rob began to tap his foot along to the song as Sorenson sang, “ _The boredom overtook us, and he began to speak. He said, "Son, I've made a life out of readin' people's faces. Knowin' what the cards were by the way they held their eyes. So if you don't mind me sayin', I can see your out of aces.”_

Harry couldn’t stop himself from smiling, the atmosphere was a wartime one if ever he saw it and he got a taste of what things must have been like for those who were serving Aurors during the war.

“ _For a taste of your whiskey, I'll give you some advice_ ,” Sorenson sang, “ _So I handed him my bottle, and he drank down my last swallow. Then he bummed a cigarette and asked me for a light. And the night got deathly quiet, and his face lost all expression.”_

At this point, John, Rob and Cameron all joined in, “ _He said, "If you're gonna play the game, boy, you gotta learn to play it right. You've got to know when to hold 'em. Know when to fold 'em. Know when to walk away and know when to run. You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table. There'll be time enough for countin’ when the dealin's done_.”

Sorenson sang on his own once more, _“Every gambler knows that the secret to surviving, is knowing what to throw away and knowing what to keep. Cause every hands a winner, and every hands a loser. And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep.”_

Harry contemplated the meaning of the song as the wartime Aurors tapped along.

“ _And when we finished speaking, he turned back to the window, crushed out his cigarette and faded off to sleep. And somewhere in the darkness the gambler he broke even. But in his final words, I found an ace that I could keep,”_ Sorenson sang quietly.

Once more, Rob and John joined in for the final chorus, “ _You've got to know when to hold 'em. Know when to fold 'em. Know when to walk away and know when to run. You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table. There'll be time enough for countin’ when the dealin's done_.”

There was a small round of applause when they were done. John laughed and looked at Blanche and Ophelia, “Want a shot girls?”

Blanche grinned, “Don’t suppose you know “ _Bread and Roses_ ” Shep?”

John laughed, “Course you’d want that one. Feminist anthem, eh?”

“Just an anthem about equality,” Blanche corrected.

“Yeah, I know it,” John said, “And it is an anthem, you’re right.”

He began to strum a simple tune and Blanche started to sing. Her voice wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad either, she could hold a tune, and it was clear that this one was more about the message than the singing ability.

“ _As we go marching, marching. In the beauty of the day. A million darkened kitchens. A thousand mill lofts grey are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,”_ Blanche sang clearly, “ _For the people hear us singing, bread and roses, bread and roses.”_

Clara joined in with her, shooting the Auror a smile, “ _As we go marching, marching. We battle too for men, for they are women's children and we mother them again. Our lives shall not be sweetened from birth until life closes. Hearts starve as well as bodies. Give us bread, but give us roses.”_

Harry could see why John described it as an equality anthem. He didn’t know it, but Blanche and Clara sang it with real conviction, “ _As we go marching, marching. We bring the greater days. For the rising of the women means the rising of the race. No more the drudge and idler, ten that toil where one reposes. But a sharing of life's glories, bread and roses, bread and roses.”_

Harry clapped at that, and Blanche blushed, “Oh come on, I cannot sing! That was dreadful! Fee, you sing something.”

“Oh no,” Ophelia said with a shake of her head, “No…I can’t sing in front of people.”

“We’re your friends and colleagues, Fee,” Harry said, “And you can’t be worse than Blanche.”

“Oi! Watch it chosen one!”

Harry shot Blanche a grin.

The dark-skinned girl smiled encouragingly at Ophelia, “You have a beautiful voice Fee. Just close your eyes and pretend you’re alone in the office.”

Ophelia smiled a little nervously, “Can you do _“Scarborough Fair?”_ John?”

“I certainly can,” John said with a smile.

He began to play the song, and Ophelia shut her eyes. Although Blanche had said that Ophelia had a beautiful voice, nobody expected what came out of her mouth to be so beautifully haunting.

_“Are you going to Scarborough Fair?”_ Ophelia sang softly, _“Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.”_

Her voice was melodic and almost melodic, _“Remember me to one who lives there. He once was a true love of mine.”_

She held the notes perfectly, and everyone had goosebumps as they fell silent to listen to her sing.

“ _Tell him to make me a cambric shirt. Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme_ ,” Ophelia sang, “ _Without a seam nor needlework. Then he'll be a true love of mine.”_

Harry shut his eyes as Ophelia’s voice filled the room, “ _Tell him to find me an acre of land. Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.”_

The old English folk song was just so pure, “ _Between the saltwater and the sea strands. Then he'll be a true love of mine.”_

Ophelia raised her voice, _“Are you going to Scarborough Fair? Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.”  
  
_

Harry opened his eyes and saw that a couple of their colleagues had tears in their eyes as Ophelia finished, “ _Remember me to one who lives there. He once was a true love of mine.”_

Ophelia opened her eyes and looked around cautiously. Blanche laughed and wiped her eyes, “I swear I do not cry, but when you sing that song, it does something to me.”

Harry nodded. Neville wiped his eyes too, “That was beautiful, Fee.”

Ophelia looked embarrassed and oddly humbled. She looked down and laughed nervously, “Thanks.”

Jack smiled around at them all, “Right then, it’s time for a real folk song.”

“Oh, here he goes,” John joked.

“Bloody John Denver is it, sir?” Rob asked with a grin.

“Wolfe, John Denver is the father of folk music,” Jack said pointedly.

Cameron laughed and explained for the benefit of the younger Aurors, “Every time Jack has one too many drinks, he starts singing _“Take Me Home, Country Roads”,_ isn’t that right boss?”

“Damn fine song it is too,” Jack said with a raised eyebrow, “You can play it, can’t you Shep?”

“Yep,” John said, and he strummed the opening lines of the song.

When Jack began to sing, everyone was surprised. They had expected him to speak-sing or struggle through, but he sang with a deep, baritone voice that had some power behind it.

_“Almost heaven, West Virginia. Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River.”_

_  
“Life is old there, older than the trees,”_ John joined in, _“Younger than the mountains, growin' like a breeze.”_

“ _Country roads, take me home,”_ Rob joined in, belting out the song in his broadest Irish accent, _“To the place I belong.”_

Cameron grinned and joined in, “ _West Virginia, mountain mama. Take me home, country roads.”_

_“All my memories gather 'round her,”_ Sorenson sang clearly, “ _Miner's lady, stranger to blue water.”_

Even Clara began to sing, _“Dark and dusty, painted on the sky. Misty taste of moonshine, teardrop in my eye.”_

Harry and Neville joined in together, _“Country roads, take me home to the place I belong. West Virginia, mountain mama.”_

Percy smiled and joined, “ _Take me home, country roads.”_

Blanche joined in with a soft smile, _“I hear her voice in the mornin' hour, she calls me. The radio reminds me of my home far away.”_

  
 _“Drivin' down the road, I get a feelin'_ ,” Ophelia joined the chorus, _“That I should've been home yesterday, yesterday.”_

Harry nudged Draco, and the blonde man sang along quietly, “ _Country roads, take me home. To the place, I belong.”_

Every single person in the room raised their voice and belted out the song with conviction, but nobody sang it with more heart than Jack.

_  
“West Virginia, mountain mama. Take me home, country roads.”_

It was an emotional end to the night. John patted Jack on the back and admitted, “It’s the mother of all folk songs, you’re right sir.”

“Almost beats my Irish anthem,” Rob agreed. He smiled at his boss, “Good call.”

Jack got to his feet and looked at the time, “Suit up everyone. This bust today is a big one, the biggest one of some of your careers but I’ve got faith in every single one of you. Every man and woman in this room has made me proud at least once in their career; that’s what gives them the privilege of being on this task force. Whatever happens today, I’m proud of every single one of you.”

The speech was profound, but it also made Harry nervous. If the Head Auror felt the raid was that serious and dangerous, he very much doubted that they would all come out of it unharmed.

* * *

When they reached the church, the surrounding countryside was still in darkness.

“It’s warded to hell and high water,” John whispered.

“We’ll take out the men on the perimeter then break through the wards,” Sumner said in an undertone.

Percy dropped down from a tree and landed gracefully on the soft ground, “I count three men patrolling the perimeter.”

“Wood, Zabini: take a defensive position in the woodland to the north and take out one of the men when he circles around the back of the church. Longbottom, Potter: cross the gravel path very carefully and take out the second man after he passes the front door of the church. Wolfe, you and I will take out the final man by the door at the same time.”

All those who had been addressed nodded.

“The signal is the sound of a lark,” Sumner said, looking at Cameron, “Would you do the honours, Mitchell?”

Cameron nodded, “Yes, sir.”

“Move out.”

The three teams did so. Once they were in position, Cameron gave the signal, and the men were taken out in unison with silent stunners.

They all came back together by the treeline. The stunned men were bound and hidden in the trees behind them, and then Sumner whispered, “There will be resistance from the moment we get into the building.”

“Thermal scans indicate at least twenty people in there,” Percy said in an undertone.

“We’ll be well and truly outnumbered,” John pointed out.

“But we’re Aurors, and they are shitty criminals,” Cameron reminded them.

“Don’t get complacent, Mitchell,” Sumner ordered, “Complacency gets you killed.”

“Sorry, sir.”

“I need my Healers stationed out here,” Sumner continued, “Stay by the treeline and only come in if we call you via the comms bracelet. Otherwise, we’ll bring the injured to you.”

Clara and Cameron both nodded.

“Once we get in there, Wolfe and I will head for the crypt. Everyone else, fight whoever you come across. This is a code red,” Sumner said seriously.

This statement was met with stunned silence. Code red was a big deal because it was very rarely issued and it meant ‘fight to kill’.

“Ready?” Sumner asked, surveying them all.

They nodded or whispered, “Yes, sir.”

“Alright,” Sumner said, steeling himself for the raid, “We get to that door, and we all hit it with a blasting charm on the count of three. There will be a big enough gap in the wards for us to get through, but they will be immediately aware of our presence. Wolfe, I need you to cover me while I put up anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Everyone else, prepare for being under immediate fire.”

Again, everyone nodded so they moved towards the entrance to the church where a shimmering blue light could be seen. It encased the entire church in a dome like the one that Hogwarts had been protected by before the Battle of Hogwarts.

Sumner counted to three on his fingers, and they all blasted the door. The wards cracked and as predicted, a large hole was blasted in them. They ran inside in their Auror pairs and immediately two pairs of Aurors got caught up in duels.

There were four men on either side of the door. John and Draco immediately threw themselves into a duel with two of them, and Blanche and Ophelia were engaged by the other two.

This gave Sumner enough time to put up the wards while the others were gathering their wits and realising what was happening. Harry and Neville headed straight up the aisle but came to an abrupt stop when they realised that there were two galleries on either side of the church that hadn’t been on the floor plans.

Harry and Neville reacted defensively before they took the offensive because stunners were coming in from every direction.

“We have five people trying to kill us right now,” Harry yelled, “What are we going to do?”

“Actually, it’s more like eight, no scratch that…ten,” Neville came back with.

“Oh sorry I wasn’t specific enough!” Harry remarked sarcastically.

“We’ve got the left gallery!” Rob yelled as he and Sumner threw up shield charms and stepped in front of the gallery where spells were raining down from.

“We’ve got the right!” Sorenson shouted. They also threw up shield charms which protected Harry and Neville from the six men on the galleries.

Straight ahead were four of Lucia and Seamus’s men, but they were yet to see the gruesome twosome themselves yet.

“Back to back, two each!” Harry yelled, pressing his back against Neville’s.

They stood tightly together with a strong shield charm acting as a bubble around them both. The four men that they were duelling were competent enough that they made them break out a slight sweat. It was hard not to get distracted by the rays of light and the yells that came from every direction though.

“Wolfe, watch your back!”

Harry glanced to the left for a moment and saw John and Draco slipping down the side of the church, having knocked out the two men they had been duelling at the entrance. They got there just in time, John threw up a shield charm to cover Rob then hit one of the guys on the gallery with a piercing charm. Sumner was duelling a hefty man who seemed to be guarding the door to the crypt.

“Orbis!”

There was a yell, and Harry glanced behind him for long enough to notice that Neville had managed to take one of his opponents out by making the ground swallow him hole.

“I know it wasn’t ethical, but he did just fire a killing curse at me,” Neville yelled over the sound of duelling.

“Fair play then!” Harry called back, “Glacius!”

The blast of ice hit his opponent in the chest and threw him back, “Stupefy!”

“Hasn’t Daphne taught you well?”

“Hasn’t Lilly taught you anything? She’d have taken all four of them out by now,” Harry called back.

Neville laughed, there was no denying that they both got off on the adrenaline rush of a fight and the banter kept it lighthearted.

The two men that they had been duelling came together so Harry and Neville stood side by side with their wands drawn, trying to work out what their next move would be.

They heard movement behind them as Blanche and Ophelia ran down the aisle and jumped to Sorenson and Percy’s aid. Blanche managed to take out one of the men with a severing charm that sliced his hand clean off. This distracted a second man who Ophelia then knocked out with a powerful stupefy.

“Well, look what the cat dragged in!”

Harry and Neville were distracted by the voice.

“We’ve got your six!” Blanche shouted as she and Ophelia ran forward.

They stepped into their duel which left Harry and Neville free to step forward as Lucia appeared on the pulpit, flanked by Seamus.

“Oh, she’s finally decided to show her face!” Harry said sarcastically, glancing to the left just in time to see Sumner knock out the man guarding the door.

“I was always here,” Lucia remarked as she drew her wand, “I just wanted to see how tough you boys were. I’m honoured, the Head Auror, the Assistant Head Auror, Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom. All for me?”

“Where’s Theo?” Neville asked, looking up at her.

Lucia laughed, “Oh, he’s too far gone to be saved now. What a waste of resources this was boys.”

Harry lost his temper and yelled, “Expelliarmus!”

“Oh grow up honey,” Lucia laughed, warding against the spell with ease, “You’re going to have to do one better than a second-year spell to beat me.”

“Aye, you not learned any new tricks?” Seamus jeered, throwing a nasty curse at Neville.

It was a difficult duel because Harry and Neville couldn’t fight together, and Lucia and Seamus both had the high ground, so they had a significant advantage.

* * *

Over to the left of the church, the other group were having more success. Between them, Rob, Sumner, John and Draco had managed to render the other two men on the left gallery unconscious, leaving them free to go down to the crypt where they expected Theo to be.

The staircase down was narrow and dark. They used a spell to mask their footsteps, but they still faced an ambush when they reached the sizeable stone-built crypt beneath it. Two men were guarding the space, and there were two large, iron-cast doors.

Sumner immediately got engaged in a duel with the man closest to the staircase and John hit him in the back with a stunner while his boss had him distracted. However, while this was happening, the other man unlocked one of the doors with magic while he was duelling Rob.

Before anyone had realised what was happening a great beast bound out of the room, snarling and hissing like a feral dog. It pounced on Rob and Sumner had the fastest reaction, “Avada Kedavra!”

The spell hit the beast in the chest, but it just knocked it back.

“Sectumsempra!” Draco yelled, slicing his wand at the beast. Its head was sliced clean off, and for one very eery minute, its body kept moving until it fell to the ground in a crumpled heap.

John was distracted by what had happened to Rob, so Sumner hit the last guard with a piercing charm to the head and turned around.

“It was a werewolf,” John said, looking at an open, deep bite mark on Rob's shoulder.

“When he bit him, he hit a major artery; he’s losing a lot of blood!” Draco said.

John placed his wand on the wound and whispered, “Vulnera Sanetur.”

The spell slowed the blood flow and knitted the artery back together, but Rob’s body began to convulse, “He’s going into shock, Jack-”

“Get him to the healers, now,” Sumner ordered, “Black, with me.”

John levitated Rob’s body and left the crypt as quickly as he could. Sumner took a step back and pointed his wand at the door that was still locked, “Bombarda Maxima!”

* * *

The explosion that had broken Theo out of his cell made the whole church shake and some masonry began to fall in a weakened corner of the church. Conveniently enough, this was where the pulpit was.

Lucia shielded against it and dashed down the stairs into the main church. Seamus vaulted the wooden railing and landed on all fours next to her.

“What are you, a bloody dog now?” Neville asked in disbelief.

“Looks more like a little bitch to me,” Harry remarked.

Harry and Neville shared a smirk; this put them on a level playing field with their opponents.

* * *

Down in the crypt, Sumner and Draco cleared the dust and stepped into the tiny cell where Theo was being held. Draco dropped to his knees next to his best friend who looked worse than he had when they had taken him out of the Dark Tower. He was curled up on his side in what appeared to be a deep sleep, “Theo! Theo!”

Sumner cast a diagnostic charm, “He’s alive.”

“Enervate!”

Still, Theo did not move a muscle.

“Why won’t he wake up?” Draco panicked.

“I don’t know, but we won’t find out here,” Sumner snapped. He levitated Theo’s body, “Let’s get him out of here.”

Draco’s heart was pounding as he followed Sumner up the stairs. In the main church, it took a quick scan to realise that the only people left to fight were Lucia, Seamus and one guard on the right gallery.

“Wood, Zabini!” Sumner barked.

They turned to look at him, but at that point, a real calamity took place on the other side of the church.

“Confringo!”

Percy shielded against the attack, which would usually have been the perfect response. However, it sent the ball of fire bouncing back into the gallery. There was a large explosion as the gallery collapsed, and fire began to consume the wooden stairs leading up to it.

Percy was pushed back by the force of the explosion. His head spun, and his ears rang as he tried to get back on his feet. Sorenson had been stationed closer to the stairs, and the fire had engulfed him.

Blanche and Ophelia immediately abandoned what they were doing and both cast powerful, “Aguamenti” charms on Sorenson who was screaming in pain. Sumner hit Percy in the back with an enhancement charm which stopped his ears ringing and cleared his head. He got to his feet and helped to put the fire out then cast a medical charm that was used to treat burns.

“Wood, Zabini, Weasley!” Sumner yelled, “Get Nott and Cauldwell out of here!”

“Yes, sir!”

The three Aurors immediately got to work getting their colleagues out of the church. Sumner and Draco put up a shield charm to cover their backs while they did so, and just after they had left, John dashed back in.

“Who's left?”

“Just Cross and Finnigan,” Sumner answered.

The three Aurors moved to the aid of Harry and Neville who were beginning to feel the strain of the duel. Harry, in particular, was struggling with the duel against Lucia who knew several obscure unshieldable curses.

As such, Draco and John went to his aid while Sumner targeted Seamus. Seeing that they were and truly outnumbered, Seamus panicked and rashly yelled, “Depulso!”

The spell sent a church pew flying back into Neville. Sumner spun around and the words, “Immobilius” were on his lips when his eyes widened, and he fell to the ground lifelessly.

“NO!” Harry screamed.

Lucia smirked because the green light that had hit Sumner had come from her wand.

Harry was completely distracted, and if it hadn’t been for John and Draco having his back, he would have been killed at that point.

Neville had been sent flying back into the wreckage of the right gallery and a large wooden stake from the damaged staircase was embedded in his back.

“Potter, don’t get distracted!” John yelled as he ran to Neville, who was struggling to draw breath.

Harry turned around in a fit of rage. Seamus was running towards the exit of the church but like hell was he letting him get away with that, “AVADA KEDAVRA!”

He had never found the unforgivable curses easy to use because of how much hate you needed to use them. He had even struggled against Voldemort, but that had been a long time ago, and there were people he loved now more than he could ever have imagined loving another person back then.

The green light was brighter than Harry had ever seen it as it soared through the air and hit Seamus in the back. Harry turned around and tried not to look at Neville as John carefully levitated him, with the stake of wood still embedded in his back.

Draco was fighting Lucia alone. Harry stalked towards her with more purpose than he had felt in years. He fully intended to kill her too, but she had other plans. The fire on the staircase of the right gallery had been put out, but it had already spread to the roof by that point.

Anything made of timber was being eaten away, and the right-hand side of the church roof was on fire and beginning to collapse.

Lucia grinned, “Look what we have here. The last two men standing? Well, I never thought it would be Harry Potter and my big brother.”

“I am not your brother!” Draco hissed, “I’m not a Malfoy, I haven’t been for years, and you shouldn’t be proud to be one either!”

Lucia smirked and used an intricate mirror image charm that created a ‘copy’ of her so they didn’t know which one they should be duelling.

“Be careful Draco,” One of the Lucia’s said.

“You’re one insult away from starting a war,” The other Lucia said.

“A war against who?” Draco asked, backing away from Lucia towards Harry.

“The revolutionaries, silly.”

“Back to back duelling, Draco,” Harry said, firing a stunner at one of the Lucia’s.

“But…we’ve never done that,” Draco said, throwing a nasty home-made curse in the other Lucia’s direction.

“Just imagine we’re back at school and we’re duelling each other,” Harry said in a hurried whisper, “We knew each other’s next move back then. We just need to use that to fight together, not against each other.”

“I can’t,” Draco panicked.

“You can!” Harry snapped. He took a step back and pressed his back against Draco’s, “ _We_ can.”

Draco swallowed hard and got over his little moment of self-doubt. He tried to put himself in Harry’s mind frame, and together they yelled, “Expelliarmus!”

One spell hit the mirror Lucia and bounced off of her while the other spell just missed the real Lucia. She laughed and waved her wand again, conjuring up another two copies of herself.

“Oh you are predictable, your duelling report says that you know?” One of the Lucia’s said.

“Why are you doing this?” Harry asked.

“Tearing your world down? Well you think I’m doing it because I’m bad, but that’s not it at all,” Another Lucia said.

“I’m fixing things,” Said one of them.

“Restoring order,” Said another.

“Out with the old, in with the new,” Said a third.

Finally, one of them grinned, and Harry was sure that this was the real Lucia, “Bye-bye purebloods!”

Harry threw, “Sectumsempra!” at her, but she ducked to avoid it.

“Try harder,” Lucia sang.

“You want some advice?” Harry asked, “Advice I gave another misguided orphan a few years ago?”

“Oh and now I’m being compared to Voldemort? How original!” Lucia laughed.

Harry glared at her, “If you want to be bad, be bad with a purpose. Otherwise, you’re not worth forgiving.”

“I don’t want your forgiveness, or anyone’s for that matter,” Lucia said with a smile, “And I don’t like talking through a duel. I’m not your epic nemesis Harry. I’m just a girl with a plan, and _you_ are in my way.”

She whipped up a firestorm and encircled Harry and Draco in it. As the fire advanced on them, they spun around in circles, covering each other's backs and sending as many lethal curses as they could at Lucia, but the ones that hit ‘her’ never hit the real her. The church was aflame around them; masonry was crumbling down in every direction.

“Draco!” Harry yelled when they heard a loud rumble above them.

“Depulso!” Draco yelled, sending Harry flying backwards then diving out of the way as the small tower above the church began to collapse in on the building.

In the chaos, Lucia blasted a hole in the back of the church and ran away, disapparating with a crack the moment she had cleared the wards.

“Fuck!” Harry cursed.

“Harry!”

Harry looked up and saw that the tower had only been the beginning, a whole ton of rubble was about to collapse on top of them, and they couldn’t apparate out because of the wards.

Harry held his wand up and cried, “FINITE INCANTATEM!”

The wards around the church blew up and began to rain down. Harry reached out for Draco, “Take my hand!”

The whole thing just mirrored what had happened in Malfoy Manor during the war so many years ago. It was kind of ironic actually.

Draco grabbed Harry’s hand instantly, and he apparated them both out of the church to the rendezvous point at the treeline.

Draco let go of Harry’s hand and collapsed against a tree, trying to catch his breath. Harry stood stoically by the treeline and watched the church collapse. They had just gotten out in time. If it had been half a minute later, they would have been buried under the rubble.

The sun was rising above the church, and it was the worst sunrise of Harry’s life. He was pretty sure that he would remember that blood-red sunrise over the ruin of that godforsaken church until the day he died.

When it was over, John and Harry walked towards the church wordlessly. Without needing to ask why or what they were doing, Draco, Percy, Blanche and Ophelia followed them. They cleared the rubble and the debris until they found him. Then John whispered, “Mobilicorpus.”

He swallowed a lump in his throat as Sumners body rose from the rubble.

“Mobilicorpus,” Harry choked out, levitating Sumner’s body from the other side.

“Mobilicorpus,” Draco said quietly, standing behind Harry.

Percy had a haunted look in his eyes as he stood behind John and murmured, “Mobilicorpus.”

Blanche wiped her eyes with the blood-stained sleeve of her robes, “Mobilicorpus,” she said, standing behind Harry.

Ophelia could barely get the words out, “Mobilicorpus,” she eventually spluttered as she stood behind Percy.

Together, the six Aurors walked out of the wreckage with Sumner’s body. The birds in the trees had stopped singing, and that blood-red sun continued to climb in the sky, encasing the Irish countryside in its eery orange glow on that fateful August morning.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	12. When I Come Undone, You Bring Me Back Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title comes from the song:  
> Fall to Pieces by Avril Lavigne.

At the Trauma Ward, all hell was breaking loose by the time the other Aurors on the raid arrived. Harry was still in shock at first as he stood in a corridor, unsure what was happening to his friends in different rooms. Healers rushed around, orders were yelled and then at the centre of it all was Lilly.

She was standing at the reception desk with tears pouring down her cheeks. Harry ran to her, instinctively, “Lilly!”

She wrapped her arms around him the instant he reached her.

“Is he…”

Lilly shook her head, “They took him straight into theatre…he…it’s not good.”

Harry’s eyes darkened, and he ran straight through the doors that said, “No unauthorised access.”

“Potter, get out of here!” Clara barked, “You’re not authorised personnel.”

“The hell I’m not,” Harry said, pushing his way into the room, “I might be the only person who can save his life.”

He wished he hadn’t when he got to the front and saw quite how bad it was. Neville was unconscious and lying on his front. His top had been removed, and the stake was still embedded very deeply in his back.

“It’s too far in,” Clara said quietly, “As soon as we remove it, he’s going to start bleeding out. It has missed his heart, but it has hit his liver. He’s bleeding internally, and his spine is fractured. There’s no good prognosis here.”

“Take it out and control the bleeding then,” Harry said.

“We can save his life,” Clara said, looking at Harry, “But not his mobility. He’s going to lose all feeling below the waist.”

“No,” Harry said with a shake of his head, “No, he’s not! He’s going to become a dad, and there’s no way in hell he’s going to do that in a fucking wheelchair! He’s going to run around the garden with those kids and teach them how to pot mandrakes in his greenhouse, do you hear me? We’re going to fix him.”

“Harry, I know he’s your best friend, but he’s too far gone,” Clara said quietly, “The only Healer powerful enough to fix this is in Germany.”

The other Healers in the room seemed to agree with her.

“We can fix his spine but not the nerve damage; it’s been too long since the damage was inflicted.”

“So it’s power?” Harry asked, his eyes meeting Clara’s.

“It’s the power of the spell, yes,” Clara answered, “Why?”

Harry sighed and whispered to Clara, “Because this is the elder wand.”

Clara’s eyes widened.

Harry continued in an undertone, “It’s how I defeated Voldemort. It enhances every single spell that I cast with it. Clara, you’re going to have to whisper in my ear the whole time, but is there a chance it would be enough to heal the nerve damage?”

“It…” Clara swallowed, “It’s a chance, and that’s the best we’ve got so…we’re doing this. Harry, get yourself into the decontamination chamber right now.”

Harry nodded and stepped into the chamber. It doused him then dried him off all in the space of one minute. He grabbed a clinical robe and stepped out, his heart beating wildly as he stood next to Clara.

“Ward, you are going to vanish the stake. The moment it is gone, Jones, you will slow the bleeding,” Clara commanded.

The two younger healers nodded.

“Wilkies, you are going to repair the liver and Yates, you are going to repair the spine fracture. Is that clear?”

The two healers that she had just addressed nodded.

“I am going to talk Harry through the procedure to repair the nerve damage,” Clara continued, “Then we are going to use a vacuum charm to get rid of any blood left over from the internal injuries. If one person screws up, he’s going to go into cardiac arrest on this table and his wife, _our Lilly_ is going to have raise her unborn baby alone, so you had better make sure that you do _not_ screw up.”

There was an eery, uncomfortable silence. Then Clara nodded at Ward. He removed the stake, and the race to save Neville began.

“Okay, Harry, you can see the issue right there. That is the spinal nerve, and you see where it’s frayed?”

Harry nodded.

“It has almost snapped, and if it had, the damage would have been irreparable. I need you to place the tip of your wand as close as you can to that nerve _without_ touching it. Then I need you to say, “Nervus Reparo.”

Harry took a breath and did as she said. His wand hand shook at first then he closed his eyes and remembered Lilly’s words, _You can do this,_ she said in his head, _Your hand only shakes when you think you can’t do it, but you can. You can do this._

When he opened his eyes, his hand had stopped shaking, so he placed his wand as close to the nerve as he dared and uttered the words clearly, “Nervus Reparo.”

The strings of the nerve began to knit back together, one by one. Harry could feel Clara holding her breath by his side as they watched. It took at least a minute, and in that time, the rest of Clara’s team had managed to repair Neville’s liver and cauterise the cause of the internal bleeding.

Clara let out a breath when the nerve stopped knitting together, “That should never have worked.”

Harry drew back and let out a breath too; he felt sick to his stomach and dizzy as he leant against the wall. Clara took over, she vacuumed up the blood, disinfected the wound and had two other healers help her seal up the large wound. They had to take a skin graft from the back of his leg then grow new skin where they had taken it from, but the atmosphere in the room seemed remarkably calmer.

“His heart rate is returning to normal,” Clara said, looking up at a list of numbers on the wall, “And everything is looking good, brain activity too.”

“Should we take him to post-op?”

“Yes, but do not leave him alone. Monitor him _very_ closely,” Clara ordered. She turned to Harry, “Harry, that was-”

“I shouldn’t have it. I shouldn’t have this wand,” Harry said with a shake of his head, “It does things that can’t be done. It mended my wand, and even Ollivander said that wands can’t be mended.”

“Neither can nerves when they are that badly damaged,” Clara said, her eyes on the wand.

Harry holstered it hastily.

Clara’s eyes snapped up, “I need to go to Sorenson.”

“I’ll tell Lilly,” Harry promised.

Clara nodded and left through a door at the back of the room. Harry was about to leave when a door above opened. He looked up and saw Lilly in a gallery that he hadn’t even realised was there. He ran up the stairs and pulled her into his arms.

“Thank you,” She whispered, kissing him on the cheek, “Thank you. God, Harry, thank you.”

Harry swallowed a lump in his throat and held her tightly, “I…”

“I know the power scares you,” Lilly said, pulling back with bloodshot eyes and a puffy, tearstained face, “But you saved his life and probably his legs. Harry, you…you…”

She either didn’t know what she wanted to say or she just couldn’t get the words out so she settled for pulling him into another hug and breathing against his neck, “I will never forget this, _never_.”

Harry closed his eyes and sighed heavily. He wanted to tell her everything, that they had lost Jack, that he needed to find Rob, that Sorenson had been badly injured too but he couldn’t.

“Lilly,” Harry murmured, resting his chin on the top of her head, “Let me do a quick check up on you, and let me give you a calming draught, please.”

Lilly nodded. Harry took her hand and opened the door at the back of the gallery. Lilly led him into a quiet side room then lay down on the small hospital bed and took a sharp breath.

Harry gently lifted her blouse, just enough so that he could cast a diagnostic charm on her stomach. She shut her eyes tightly as he gently prodded her and looked closely at the numbers that were floating through the air. The next charm that he did showed him an image of what was happening inside her uterus. She heard him breathe in a little sharply, and her heart began to beat faster.

“You’ll feel my wand against your stomach, don’t get a fright,” Harry said softly.

He placed his wand against her lower stomach and spoke the words of a healing spell. It was generally one that was used to restore a person's magical core or used during blood transfusions. He waited for a few minutes then cast it again, and then again. In total, Harry cast the same spell four times.

Once he was done, he put her blouse back down and said, “You can open your eyes now.”

Lilly pushed herself up and looked at him, warily, “I’m going to have another miscarriage, aren’t I?”

“No,” Harry replied. He smiled at her, “Placental insufficiency, you’ve heard of it?”

Lilly frowned, “Yes, but it’s really difficult to treat.”

“Not with the elder wand,” Harry said, meeting her eye, “Did you increase your iron intake when you and Neville started trying to have a baby, Lilly?”

Lilly frowned, “No, but I already take a supplement because I’m a vegetarian.”

“Well, you need to take more,” Harry said, “You’re anaemic, Lilly.”

“What?”

Harry nodded, “I did just boost the blood flow to your placenta, but you need to increase your iron intake immediately. You’ll know that anaemia leads to placental insufficiency. The way you’ve been feeling on and off over the past year? The headaches? The tiredness? You thought it was all because you worked too hard.”

“Oh my God,” Lilly breathed, “How could I…how could I not notice that?”

“Because it’s so easily managed with nutrient potions that I don’t even know if they test for it here,” Harry said, he grabbed her hand, “And if they do, not until the three-month appointment by which point-”

“It would be too late,” Lilly finished, “Do you think that’s what caused the last miscarriage?”

Harry nodded, “I’m pretty sure of it, yeah. The first one was different; ectopic pregnancies just happen, don’t they?”

Lilly nodded, frowning at the memory.

“But it was the last thing you wanted to hear back then,” Harry said, squeezing her hand, “Right after your honeymoon.”

Lilly cleared her throat, “So when you say you boosted the blood flow to the placenta…do you mean…?”

“I mean it’s going to be okay this time,” Harry promised her, “We caught it early enough to do something about it. Increase your iron intake, get Clara to check you over every week and it’s going to be okay.”

Lilly stared at him in disbelief.

Harry’s face broke out into a grin, “And I’ll have two more godchildren sometime in April.”

“Two?” Lilly asked, gripping onto him for dear life, “Two!?”

“Twins,” Harry said with a nod, “It’s more common with IVF, you must have known there was a chance.”

Lilly breathed in sharply then burst into tears. When she first launched herself at Harry, he wasn’t sure if they were happy tears or terrified tears.

“How come you know about IVF?”

“I read up on it when you and Neville said that you were going to go down that route,” Harry replied.

Lilly burst out crying again, “You’re such a good friend, Harry,” she half-laughed, half-sobbed.

“Oh god, is this going to be like Sadie all over again? Double the baby, double the hormones?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Lilly laughed through her tears.

* * *

By the time Harry walked into Rob's hospital room, things were looking grim. John was by his side, looking as white as a sheet as three Healers worked on Rob.

“What’s happening to him?” Harry asked.

“The werewolf venom is changing his DNA,” John said, he cleared his throat, but his voice still shook, “He’s had three cardiac arrests since he got here.”

Rob had a fit, his entire body convulsed and his mouth foamed. John looked away, the pain in his eyes apparent to Harry, who had just gone through all of this with Neville.

“He’s fighting it,” One of the Healers told John, “If he doesn’t want to be a werewolf, he’ll keep fighting until it kills him.”

John shook his head angrily and walked forward. He grabbed Rob’s head and forced him to look him in the eye. The look there was wild and feral, but John spoke to him firmly anyway, “Stop fighting it! You have a wife and kids to go home to! You don’t get to give up like a selfish bastard because Jen deserves her husband back! Nick and Nat deserve their dad back. Who gives a fuck if you’re a werewolf? We don’t care, Rob! We want you alive, and we don’t care about the rest!”

The feral look in Rob’s eyes seemed to ease. His body stopped convulsing for a moment, but then he arched his back and screamed in pain. Harry had never seen Rob in pain, and he had never heard him scream like that. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. John winced at the heart-wrenching sound too.

When it was over, Rob collapsed in a heap on the bed, shaking and sweating profusely.

One of the Healers checked Rob’s vitals and lifted the bandage that was covering the wound where he had been bitten. She nodded at John, “The transformation is complete, his body has begun to heal itself.”

Harry watched with morbid curiosity as the wound began to knit itself shut slowly. The Healer covered it up once more and said, “You should inform his next of kin.”

John nodded, “Yeah.”

Harry sighed, “How’s Jen going to take it?”

“I don’t know,” John confessed, “How is Neville?”

“Alive,” Harry said, wiping his brow, “And hopefully able to walk when he wakes up.”

“How?” John asked in disbelief, “His spinal nerve was almost completely severed. That shouldn’t be healable.”

“The wards on that church were on a par with the wards on Hogwarts Castle,” Harry said quietly, “But I was able to bring them down with one strongly worded finite incantatem. Just like I was able to cast the most effective killing curse of my life after Seamus hurt Neville.”

John looked at Harry in confusion.

Harry sighed and held up the elder wand, “This isn’t my wand, John.”

John looked at the wand a little more closely, “Whose wand is it?”

“It’s the elder wand,” Harry replied, “It healed Neville’s spine. It cut through the wards on that church like a knife cuts through butter. It managed to save Lilly’s pregnancy when that really shouldn’t have been possible either. I just wish it could do something for Rob, but all it does is enhance existing spells, and there is no cure for lycanthropy.”

“The elder wand?” John breathed, his eyes gleaming as he looked at it.

“No!” Harry snapped, “See? This is why I hate it! You look at it that way, and Clara looks at it the same way. I feel like Frodo fucking Baggins! I’m the only person who can hold this thing without getting dark, murderous thoughts.”

A low chuckle sounded from behind them, and they both turned to look at Rob. He was incredibly pale, but he was awake and lucid.

“Has anyone said, _my precious?”_

John pointed at Rob, “Shut the fuck up. You don’t get to make jokes! You nearly died, you fucking bastard!”

Harry watched this exchange curiously.

“Yeah Shep, I love you too,” Rob said, attempting a grin.

One of the Healers put a blanket over him, and he shrugged it off, “Why are you lot looking so solemn?”

The second Healer put the blanket on Rob again, but he shrugged it off once more.

“Why do people keep trying to put a blanket on me?”

“Because you’re in shock,” Harry replied.

Rob scoffed, “That doesn’t mean I need a blanket, that means I need booze.”

John shook his head in disbelief, “You wouldn’t believe he was on death's door five minutes ago, would you Harry?”

“Death's door?” Rob scoffed, “I feel fine. I just blacked out in the church after someone attacked me.”

“Something,” John corrected him.

“Something?” Rob frowned, “That doesn’t sound good. Why doesn’t that sound good, Harry?”

“Because it’s not good,” Harry said solemnly.

“Oh…no…fuck off…no,” Rob said as he realised what they meant.

“Yeah,” Harry sighed, “You were bitten Rob, and it was touch and go for a while. If it hadn’t been for Shep yelling at you, I think you might have died.”

Rob threw his head back against his pillows, “I’m a werewolf?”

“Yeah.”

Rob looked up at John, “Do you think Jen’s going to leave?”

“I’ve got more faith in her than that,” John said sincerely.

Rob held his gaze for a minute, “Did we lose anyone?”

“Yes,” John said, his eyes appeared haunted, “We lost Jack.”

Rob’s eyes widened, “How…?”

“He tried to save Neville and got hit in the back with a killing curse,” Harry said quietly.

“Neville? What happened to Neville?” Rob asked anxiously.

“Finnigan impaled him on a wooden stake when the church started to collapse,” John said, glancing over at Harry, “He should have died, or at the very least been left paralysed from the waist down but mister miracle managed to save him.”

“When did you go back and get the elder wand?” Rob asked Harry, looking the younger man dead in the eye.

“After I snuck home to England to say goodbye to my wives, kids and Neville as you put it,” Harry admitted softly, “I realised how much I had to lose and I wanted to go into that battle with every advantage possible.”

“You’re a good kid,” Rob said, smiling weakly at him, “The best one I ever trained up, I’m really proud of you, Harry.”

Harry smiled and grabbed his hand, “You’re going to be alright, Rob.”

John gripped Rob’s good shoulder and said, “Yeah mate, you are.”

* * *

Harry didn’t know how he was still awake as he walked around the Trauma Ward, checking up on the people that he cared about. He could feel the adrenaline wearing off, and when it did, he would pass out, but it hadn’t yet.

He walked past Sorensons room and saw Clara lying in bed with him, on his good side. They were both asleep, but it was clear from the bandages that covered the right-hand side of Sorenson’s body that he had suffered nasty burns.

When he got to Theo’s room, he didn’t want to intrude, but he felt like he ought to. Sadie and Hermione sat by his bed while Draco paced the room. Harry stepped inside quietly, but all eyes turned to look at him.

“How is he doing?” Harry asked softly.

Sadie shook her head, “He won’t wake up.”

“The Healers think his body went into shock,” Hermione said shakily, “He’s half-starved, dehydrated and he has at least three infected wounds that weren’t healed.”

Draco stopped pacing and looked at his best friend who lay in the hospital bed with several tubes attached to him, “He can’t breathe on his own because his organs are starting to shut down. There’s a spell that’s keeping his heart beating, and he’s being tube fed food and water.”

“They don’t know if he’ll make it through the day,” Sadie choked out, “So if…if Daphne wants to…”

“Say goodbye,” Hermione finished, tears burning behind her eyes, “Then she should come in here and do that.”

Harry swallowed and nodded, “I’ll…floo her.”

The trio said no more on the subject, so Harry left the hospital room. He walked through a waiting room into a little booth with nothing more than a fireplace. He picked up a pot of floo powder and threw it in, “Potter Manor.”

He could have sent a Patronus, but the news he was delivering was bad so he felt like Daphne ought to see his face.

Daphne’s pale face appeared in the fire immediately, “What’s happened?”

“We got almost everyone out,” Harry said, “We lost Jack.”

Daphne’s eyes softened, “And is everyone else okay?”

“Neville got hurt badly, but I think he’s going to be okay,” Harry said shakily, “Rob’s had a real shock, but it’s Theo we’re worried about. We got him out, but he’s not in a good way, the Healers are saying that anyone who wants to say goodbye should do.”

Daphne swallowed, “I’ve just dropped Teddy off at school, but give me ten minutes to drop the kids off with my dad. Narcissa will understand. It’s just like it was with Andromeda, we knew we only had a few hours, and we had to make it count.”

Harry nodded, “I’ll meet you in the waiting room when you get here.”

Daphne ended the floo call, and Harry stumbled out of the booth. He let himself into the staff room and poured a lukewarm cup of coffee down his throat to try and clear his head and keep him awake. He had lost track of how long he had been awake for now, but it had been a long time, and that battle with Lucia had been incredibly physically taxing.

Harry was just wondering about going to check on Neville when Daphne blew into the waiting room. She was dressed, but her hair was in a messy bun, and she had no make-up on, she’d flown out the door as fast as she could.

Wordlessly, Harry took her hand and led her into Theo’s room. She ran straight for Sadie and wrapped her arms around her friend tightly.

“The Healers think he’s in shock,” Harry told Daphne, “His organs are shutting down.”

Daphne frowned as she looked at a silvery graph above Theo’s bed, “But his brainwaves are fine.”

“He’s in a coma,” Hermione said.

“No…” Daphne shook her head and grabbed Draco’s hand, “That’s not a coma! Look at those brainwaves, what do they remind you of?”

Draco’s eyes widened, “You! The nightmare curse!”

“Get a decent healer in here right now!” Daphne exclaimed.

Harry did the only logical thing and ran across the hall, “Clara! We need you!”

She jerked awake and climbed out of Sorenson’s bed in a flash. She followed Harry into Theo’s room and then heard them out.

“It’s a nightmare curse,” Daphne said, “Modern diagnostic charms don’t pick it up because the magic is so old and dark. The only way to diagnose it is by looking at the brainwaves of the victim and look! That’s not a man going about his everyday life is a coma, that’s a terrified man. Look at the spikes and the long low dips; he’s living his personal hell.”

Clara frowned, “How…”

“I was put under one during the war,” Daphne said quickly, “And they are notoriously hard to break a person out of. The intention is that their body shuts down while their mind keeps them incapacitated. I was under for a few hours, and I was difficult to pull out, we have no idea how long Theo has been under for.”

Clara paused and looked at Theo for a long moment, “There is a way to communicate with him, but it is very experimental magic. It will only work with someone who has bonded with Theo magically, or who shares his blood.”

“Draco’s his blood brother,” Harry said, “They did a ritual when they were like 14.”

“And Sadie is magically bonded with him, from the wedding,” Daphne added.

“So it has to be one of you,” Hermione said, looking between Draco and Sadie.

“I can use a modified Legilimens spell to link you together,” Clara said, “But it’s experimental which means that I don’t know how long you’ll have. I would estimate between five and ten minutes.”

“You do it, Draco,” Sadie said.

Draco shook his head, “You’re his wife.”

“And I don’t know if I can do it,” Sadie admitted, her eyes meeting his, “I just…I don’t know if I would be able to pull him out.”

Draco swallowed and looked at Clara, “How does it work?”

Clara conjured up another bed and told Draco to lie down. He did, and she then told him to focus on Theo and the mental link that they had struck up during their later school years, the one they had cemented during their time training to be Aurors.

Once he began to feel the busy buzz of Theo’s thoughts, Clara said, “Legilimens!” and began to poke around in Draco’s bed. He felt a sharp pain in the centre of his forehead, like a flash migraine, then a house materialised in front of him.

It was 11 Grimmauld Place, but it didn’t look like it did in real life. The white exterior had faded away; it looked dirty and unkempt like number 12 had before it had been restored.

Draco walked into the house cautiously and looked around. There were no pictures of the kids around the house, and it was eerily silent.

“Get the fuck out of my house.”

Draco looked up with a start. Theo stood atop the stairs, looking more like his father than he ever had. He was older; he had shorter hair and a beard just like the one his father had.

“Theo,” Draco breathed, “Theo, you need to wake up. This isn’t real-”

“What part of get the fuck out of my house do you not understand?” Theo asked coldly, “You’re the reason that my wife is dead! If you hadn’t been fucking her, if you hadn’t knocked her up, I’d never have lost my temper!”

Draco swallowed. He had known that Theo’s nightmare world would be bad, but he hadn’t realised quite how bad it was. Like Draco, Theo’s worst nightmare was becoming his father.

“Where’s Almina?”

A bitter laugh sounded and Draco swivelled. Standing in the doorway of the kitchen was a teenager who looked remarkably like Theo. He was obviously a grown-up Charlus.

“Almina, there’s a name I haven’t heard in a while. Where is Almina, father?” Charlus asked as he stepped into the hall, “Is she alive? Is she living with a lovely muggle family somewhere? Or is this like that time you buried my cat in the back garden then told me that it wasn’t dead, but it had just gone to live on a farm? 

Draco felt sick.

Theo glared at Charlus, “Shut up,” he ground out, “It is bad enough that you are a Gryffindor and a disgrace to the family name. If you carry on sympathising with squibs, I _will_ cast you out.”

“Please do,” Charlus muttered.

“Theo, this isn’t you.”

“Theo? For heaven's sake, Malfoy, you haven’t called me that since we were kids,” Theo remarked bitterly.

“Theo, this isn’t you-”

“It’s too late to save my soul,” Theo hissed, “You should have tried that before you fucked my wife! Now get the hell out of my house!”

“No, Theo.”

Theo rolled his eyes and raised his wand, “Avada Kedavra!”

Draco woke up with a start; he sat bolt upright in bed, gasping for air. Hermione grabbed his shoulders and gave him a shake, “It’s okay Draco, you’re back in the real world.”

“What happened?” Sadie asked as they all began to crowd him.

“He killed me,” Draco said breathily.

“That explains the sudden cardiac arrest,” Clara remarked dryly.

“You mean….that could have killed me for real?” Draco asked, looking up at Clara with wide eyes.

Clara nodded grimly, “How far gone is he?”

“So far gone,” Draco said. He swallowed a lump in his throat and looked up at Sadie, “His worst nightmare is his family history repeating itself. He hates me because I slept with you, got you pregnant and then he lost his temper and killed you.”

“Just like with his parents,” Sadie whispered tearfully.

“Almina is a squib, he cast her out,” Draco said, rubbing his eyes on his sleeve, “Just like Theo’s grandfather cast Hermione’s mother out.”

Tears fell freely from Sadie’s eyes.

“And Charlus hates him,” Draco finished, “Just like Theo hated his father.”

“Are you saying he’s too far gone to pull out?” Hermione asked in a choked whisper.

“I don’t know,” Draco said, his voice breaking as tears fell from his own eyes, “I think there’s only one person who even stands a chance at getting him out.”

Sadie met his eyes and nodded. Draco got up gingerly, and Sadie took his place on the hospital bed.

“You can do this Sadie,” Clara said, “Just shut your eyes and focus on your magical core. Go back to your wedding day and remember the feeling of your magical core binding with Theo’s when you kissed for the first time as husband and wife.”

Sadie took a shaky breath then felt a hand in her own. It was soft and small, so she knew that it belonged to Hermione.

“He loves you more than anything,” Hermione whispered in Sadie’s ear, “You can do this.”

Sadie took another breath to steady herself then she felt Draco take her other hand.

“You can bring him home, Sadie,” He said with complete conviction.

Sadie tried to hold onto their faith as Clara cast the spell. Just as Draco had felt, a sharp pain shot straight into her head. She cried out at first, but then it ebbed away, and she found herself standing in front of the front door of 11 Grimmauld Place.

Like Draco had done, Sadie paused warily when she saw the outside of the house. She placed her hand on the door, and the wards let her in instantly. The door swung open, but no house-elf came to greet her. She stepped into the hall, glancing around anxiously.

This looked nothing like their family home. There were no pictures, no signs that the house had known any love. Sadie gripped the bannister when she saw the door that led to their room of requirement basement in the real world. It was ajar, and the back of it was covered in scratch marks and dried blood.

Instinctively, Sadie knew that she had to go down there. She stepped onto the staircase and saw him kneeling on the basement floor. He had his wand held to the side of his head like a gun.

His eye were shut, “I should feel afraid,” he murmured to himself, “But all I can feel is relief.”

Sadie shook her head angrily; she knew that Theo would go into cardiac arrest in the real world if he died in his nightmare world, just like Draco had done. But Draco had suffered second hand, this was Theo’s nightmare, and she was almost positive that dying in here would kill him in real life.

“Theodore Roosevelt Nott!” Sadie thundered, “What the hell do you think you are doing?”

Theo backed away in alarm, “No…Sadie…no!”

“You are not widowing me!” Sadie hissed, “Wake up, Theo. Use the logical side of your brain and wake up. Look at me and see the truth. This is _not_ the real world, this is a nightmare, your worst nightmare, but you can end it all, you can end it all and wake up.”

“Sadie,” Theo sobbed, “I’m so sorry for what I did to you. I always knew you would come back to haunt me.”

“I’m not a ghost, Theo, I’m real,” Sadie said, reaching out and touching his cheek.

Theo breathed in sharply, and his eyes fluttered shut, “I’m _real_ , baby and I’m in the real world waiting for you to wake up. This world is a lie. It’s a nightmare. Remember Lucia? She put you here to torture you. I’m the only thing here that’s real.”

Theo opened his eyes to look at her, and they swam with such regret and sorrow.

“You do not just get to give up and leave us,” Sadie said, without breaking eye contact, “I need you, and I can’t bury you again. I can’t stand by your grave while our children sob for their father. I can’t sit with your step-mother as she cries over your tomb. I need you and your children need you. Almina deserves a father who will walk her down the aisle. I don’t want my daughter to walk down the aisle wishing that she was holding her father's hand, I felt like that and I _don’t_ want that for her.”

Tears burned in Theo’s eyes.

“I don’t want Charlus to grow up without his father. I don’t want our friends to take him to Quidditch games while he wishes it was you,” Sadie continued fiercely, “Because if you kill yourself today, it doesn’t just affect you. The moment your leaf falls off of the family tree, it spreads to Almina and Charlus, it spreads through every branch of our family tree.”

Theo got to his feet and threw his wand down.

Tears ran down Sadie’s cheeks as she said, “Wake up, Theo. Come home. Be the father that you always wanted to be, the one that your father never was. Come home and tell your children that you love them every single day. Show them what love is, teach them compassion, raise them well like you have done for the last five years.”

Theo nodded and shut his eyes. There was a flash of light, and then it seemed as if fireworks were going off as the illusion burst into flames around them. Sadie woke up with a start, but not breathless or gasping for air as Draco had done.

She jumped straight out of bed then realised quite how dizzy she was. Hermione grabbed her before she could fall, and they looked over at Theo’s bed. His legs began to shudder, and then he went into a full-blown seizure.

“He’s in cardiac arrest!” Clara yelled. She pressed a button above Theo’s bed, “Code blue!”

Three Healers entered the room and shoved everyone else out. Harry pulled Daphne into a hug and forced her to sit down in a nearby seat.

Draco and Hermione both expected Sadie to burst into tears, but she just grabbed Hermione and hugged her. Hermione sighed and hugged her friend back. She wanted to whisper that it would be okay, but she couldn’t promise that, and the last thing that Sadie needed was false hope.

Draco took a step towards them and wrapped his arms around both of them. None of them said anything as the sound of running and yelling came from Theo’s hospital room.

Sadie screwed her eyes shut and tried to remember to breathe. She knew it was touch and go; she could feel it. After using her magical core to connect to Theo, she could feel _his_ now when she focused on it. A magical core usually felt strong or buzzed happily, but Theo’s kept flickering in and out.

Draco could feel it too. When he closed his eyes and focused on his mental link with Theo, he saw flashes of memories before his eyes, but they weren’t his memories.

They didn’t last long; it was like a slideshow of tiny moments.

He saw Sadie smiling up from a book at eleven years old on the Hogwarts Express.

Sadie threw a slice of toast to the giant squid, and Theo jumped out of his skin at 12 years old.

Sadie stuck her tongue out and grinned after she had played a prank on Theo.

Then Draco made an appearance in the memories. There was a flash of a hug between them before they boarded the train to start their fifth year.

There was a memory of Theo giving Sadie a piggy-back up the grounds after she sprained her ankle in Care of Magical Creatures.

Draco felt his heart race as the flashes continued.

There was the image of a summerhouse in the grounds of Nott Manor. Theo threw him a cigarette. They laughed over a hipflask of firewhiskey.

They hugged on the Hogwarts Express at the start of their sixth year.

Sadie flirted with Theo in the library and then the memories were overwhelming of Draco again – whispered conversations, bear hugs, a heart to heart on the Astronomy Tower as Draco showed Theo his dark mark and came clean about his mission to kill Dumbledore.

The memories of the war flashed through in a blur. There was a kiss with Sadie, a hug at the end of it all with Draco. Then eighth year flashed before him in a matter of seconds, Sadie kissed Theo. Then Theo proposed to her in the middle of the great hall. Flashes of dances at the Yule Ball and the Prom flitted through his mind.

Draco didn’t think he could bear it as they got to the wedding. Sadie laughed and grinned over at Theo as she danced with Daphne. Theo pulled his wife in close and kissed her while they danced. Theo put his arm around Draco’s shoulder and grinned at his best friend.

Then it all stopped, Theo’s mind was filled with flashing lights and then suddenly, a wave of calm washed over Draco.

Draco snapped his eyes open in alarm and dashed to the door of Theo’s hospital room so that he could look through the small window. The Healers were all standing around Theo’s bed, and Draco panicked, he yanked the door open.

Clara turned to look at him, “He’s alive.”

Draco breathed a sigh of relief, and Sadie burst into delighted tears, hugging Draco tightly then letting go and hugging Hermione.

“It’s going to be a very long road to recovery,” Clara said, ushering the three of them into the room, “But he will recover.”

Daphne blew out a relieved breath and rested her head against Harry’s chest, “Where’s Ne-”

“I need to see Neville,” Harry had begun to say at the same time.

Daphne managed a weak smile. Harry took her hand and led her up the corridor into Neville’s room. They stepped in and smiled at the sight in front of them. Lilly was fast asleep in a chair by Neville’s bed.

“Honestly woman,” Harry whispered as he approached Lilly, “What part of look after those babies didn’t you get?”

“Babies?” Daphne questioned, “Plural?”

Harry held Lilly’s head and transfigured the chair into a bed then he grabbed a blanket out of the cupboard and draped it over her. Lilly shuffled in her sleep but didn’t wake up.

“She’s having twins,” Harry whispered, “And I found out why she had that last miscarriage. She was anaemic, which had led to placental insufficiency, but I healed her.”

Daphne’s eyes widened, “So she could have babies naturally, after these two?”

“If she wanted to, yeah,” Harry replied in a whisper.

“All because of that wand,” Daphne said, her eyes on the wand that was holstered at his side, “It saved Neville’s life and his legs, and it’s going to let them have a family.”

“It saved everyone,” Harry said, swallowing hard, “I could never have fought the way I did in there without it.”

“Are you thinking about keeping it?” Daphne asked. She could sense his discomfort.

“I want to,” Harry said honestly, “And that scares me. I’m already starting to worry about how good I am at magic without it, and I don’t want to feel that way. I don’t want to depend on it like I did with alcohol because that’s such a slippery route.”

“And it’s so dangerous,” Daphne agreed, “In the wrong hands…”

“Can you imagine if Lucia got it?” Harry asked, shaking his head.

“She got away then?”

Harry nodded, “Yeah, she got away.”

“What about Seamus?” Daphne asked.

“Dead.”

“Did Draco lose it?” Daphne asked, frowning at the thought.

“No, I did,” Harry confessed. He couldn’t look her in the eye, “He did this to Neville and I…I’ve never felt that angry, that level of hatred before. It scared me, Daphne, how easy it was to scream the killing curse at his back. This wand…it turns to darkness so easily, it feels…”

“Evil?”

Harry looked down at the wand warily, “It’s like the wand is happy when it’s doing dark magic. It’s like it’s sentient; it feels like there’s another presence in my mind. It makes me better; it makes me stronger. I feel like I can do anything with this wand.”

Daphne yanked it out of his hand, and Harry looked up in alarm.

“Do you remember a long time ago… you told me that if you _ever_ started to sound like Tom Riddle, I had to throw that photograph of your parents into the lake and burn down the oak tree in the yard of Potter Manor?” Daphne asked, taking a step back.

Harry hadn’t taken his eyes off of the wand.

“This is why,” Daphne said firmly, “Isn’t it?”

“But-”

“No,” Daphne said with a shake of her head, “Where’s your wand?”

Harry took his holly wand out of its holster.

“You need to destroy it,” Daphne said firmly, “Nobody else can do this for you. It has to be you.”

“But what if this happens again?” Harry asked, the panic in his eyes clear, “What if someone dies because I don’t have it?”

“Then that’s the natural order of things!” Daphne snapped, “I’m so happy that Neville is alive, but you cheated death today, and you can’t keep doing that for the rest of your life.”

“Dumbledore did!”

“And look at how that turned out for him!” Daphne exclaimed, “He was a bitter, twisted old man. He was a user, he was admired but never loved. You are loved, you are _so_ loved by all of us and by your children. Do you want to give all of that up for power or fame?”

“Never,” Harry said in a whisper.

“You are a brilliant wizard, and you are the strongest person that I know. You have overcome _so_ much, and you are not going to let a wand beat you now,” Daphne said firmly, “Look at this, it’s just a wand. Just a stick with magical properties that likes darkness because so many people have killed in its name! You didn’t let years of having Voldemort inside your head turn you dark, are you really going to let a wand do it now?”

Harry looked Daphne directly in the eye and levitated the elder wand into the air between them.

“Incendio!”

The wand spun as it burned in mid-air. Harry didn’t take his eyes off of Daphne’s as it turned to ash.

Harry cast his wand at the remains and vanished them away.

Daphne crossed the small distance between them and wrapped his arms around Harry.

“I love you,” He murmured against her neck, “And I never want something like this to happen again,” his eyes flickered over to Neville.

Daphne pulled away and pushed Harry into a chair by Neville’s bed, “Narcissa said that she and Dad would keep the kids for as long as necessary so I think we should all sleep. I stayed up all night last night, worrying about you both.”

Harry nodded, exhaustion was beginning to take over. He hadn’t felt this way since the final battle, but when he crawled into his old bed in the Gryffindor dorm back then, it had felt exactly like this.

It was over.

Lilly was going to have two babies, Neville was alive, and they were all together. He felt at peace with the world for the first time in hours, and he fell asleep faster than he had in a long time.

* * *

When Jennifer opened the door in her pyjamas early on Saturday morning, her heart sank.

John was standing on her doorstep in blood-stained robes looking solemn.

“No,” Jennifer said with a shake of her head, “John, please don’t say-”

“He’s alive,” John promised, “But we do need to talk. Are the kids at home?”

Jennifer shook her head, “They’re at Junior Quidditch Club.”

She took a step back and let John step into the house. He knew it well, of course, so he headed straight for the kitchen and sat down at the dining room table. Jennifer sat down opposite him and met his eye, “What happened?”

“He was bitten, Jen.”

Jennifer’s eyes darkened, “Bitten? By a…werewolf?”

John surveyed his sister-in-law anxiously, “Yes, and if you can go to him, he would appreciate that because right now, although he will never admit it, he’s terrified.”

Jennifer nodded, “Of course he is,” she breathed.

“He’s not scared of what he’s become,” John confessed, “But he is terrified that you are going to leave him. You, Nick and Nat, are his entire world, these last few years with you…I’ve never seen him happier.”

Jennifer swallowed hard.

“He nearly died,” John continued, “His body was rejecting the change, and it took me yelling at him about you three to snap him out of it. He’s out of the woods now, but his life is going to change completely.”

Jennifer got to her feet and grabbed her coat, “Come on then.”

John had been expecting more of a conversation, or perhaps a bit of a fight, so he was quite glad for this unexpected turn of events. He followed Jennifer through the floo to the hospital and led her to Rob’s private room.

Jennifer stalked over to Rob’s bed with purpose and John thought she was going to kiss him or declare her love for him.

Rob looked up when he heard her heels click into the room, but he seemed wary. As it turned out, he had cause to be, because the first thing Jennifer did was slap him.

“Ouch!” Rob objected, “I just gotten bitten by a werewolf, love!”

“Yeah, and you thought that I was going to leave you for it?” Jennifer asked in disbelief.

Rob looked over at John, “Mate, what did you have to go and tell her that for? I take back telling you that I love you.”

John snorted and opened the door as a knock sounded. He smiled when he saw Elizabeth, “You got my Patronus?”

“Yes,” Elizabeth said, glancing over at Rob, “How is he?”

“I was doing fine until your sister marched in and slapped me!” Rob exclaimed.

“You slapped him?” Elizabeth asked in surprise.

“Yes, I slapped him,” Jennifer said, crossing her arms over her chest, “The bloody idiot thought I was going to leave him because he’s a werewolf.”

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at her sister, “So you aren’t going to leave him?”

“Of course I’m not going to leave him!” Jennifer snapped, “Would you leave John if he became a werewolf?”

“Of course not!”

“Exactly!” Jennifer said irritably, “So why would I leave you, Rob? How stupid are you?”

“Stupid, apparently,” John said with a grin.

“Shut up, Shep,” Rob muttered, “You told me you loved me.”

“I did not! I shouted at you for nearly dying,” John objected.

“So you told him you loved him then,” Elizabeth conceded.

“He had gone into cardiac arrest three times; I was feeling emotional,” John muttered.

“And Jack had just died,” Rob added, entirely solemnly.

Elizabeth nodded, “The whole department has gone into mourning. He was respected and loved by so many.”

“Has someone told Caroline?” John asked.

Elizabeth nodded, tears stung in her eyes, “I did. She was at his house with Edie.”

“How is she?” Rob asked quietly.

“Upset,” Elizabeth said, leaning into John’s embrace, “Jack was all that she had left.”

Rob sighed and leant back, “At least the young ones survived it though. I was worried sick about my work-kids when I woke up.”

“Yeah to the point that you didn’t realise a werewolf had bitten you,” John reminded him.

“I know,” Rob said, shrugging this comment off, “How is everyone?”

“Sorenson is pretty badly burned, he’s going to be out for at least a month,” John answered, “Neville hasn’t woken up yet, but we think he’s going to be okay. Theo…he was under a nightmare curse, and he went into cardiac arrest when his wife managed to pull him out of it. The Healers hope he’ll wake up today at some point, but they have no idea how much psychological damage was caused.”

Rob sighed, “What about Harry? Did he do the sensible thing?”

“He burned it,” John said cryptically.

Elizabeth gave him a questioning look, but John just shook his head.

“Good,” Rob said, reaching out to grab Jennifer’s hand, “Good.”

Jennifer sat down by his bed and took his hand, “I love you, Rob and the kids adore you. We’ll find a way through this. You need to have a bit more faith in us.”

Rob smiled at her, “I’ve got complete faith in you, Jen. Have done since the day I asked you to marry me.”

Elizabeth smiled over at John. He smiled back as Jennifer kissed Rob on the cheek.

“I love you,” Rob said sincerely, “All of you. In a brotherly way though John, not a gay way.”

The others just laughed at this comment as they all made themselves comfortable around Rob’s bed.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	13. Broken Halo's That Used to Shine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:  
> Broken Halos by Chris Stapleton.

When Neville opened his eyes, the first thing he was aware of was the pain. He couldn’t move anything apart from his head. As memories of what had happened flashed back to him, he panicked, but then he realised that he could clench his fists and wiggle his toes.

He breathed out a sigh of relief and turned his head to the side. He smiled when he saw Lilly curled up in a makeshift bed on the floor, fast asleep. From the light outside, he guessed that it was sometime in the early afternoon.

The pain in his back intensified, and he made a small sound of discomfort. This caused some stirring on the other side of his bed. It took a little effort to turn his head, but when he did, he saw Harry blearily open his eyes.

“Hey,” Neville said.

Harry laughed weakly, “Hey? That’s the first thing you say after you nearly die on me?”

“Sorry,” Neville said. He grimaced, “Am I meant to be in this much pain?”

“I helped with your surgery earlier, and I saw how bad it was so yeah,” Harry confessed.

“ _You_ did?” Neville asked in surprise.

“It’s a long story,” Harry admitted, “But-”

“You used the elder wand,” Neville cut him off.

“How…how did you know that?” Harry asked his best friend in disbelief, “You and I aren’t perceptive, we bond over that all of the time.”

Neville laughed softly, “You have been my Auror partner for nearly six years, you idiot. Did you really think I’d not notice that you duelled with a different wand?”

“Aw, shit…” Harry shook his head, “I mean yeah…I didn’t think you would notice that.”

“I’m more perceptive than you, clearly,” Neville said with a slight smile.

“I used it to heal you,” Harry admitted.

“So you saved my life,” Neville said softly.

Harry caught his eye, “No, you would have lived, but I repaired the nerve damage to your spinal cord. If I hadn’t done that, you would have been paralysed from the waist down.”

Neville’s eyes shone gratefully, “Harry…I…you know I…?”

“Yeah Nev,” Harry said, grabbing his hand, “I know.”

A small groan from the floor made them both turn to look at Lilly. Harry raised an eyebrow at her, “I told you to be careful, and you decided that sleeping in a chair was careful?”

Lilly rolled her eyes and pushed herself into a sitting position, “Shut up.”

She met Neville’s eye, and tears instantly swam in her own, “You’re awake.”

“Yeah,” Neville said, he couldn’t bring himself to take his eyes off of her.

“Good, I have something to tell you,” Lilly admitted.

Neville’s smile was a knowing one, “How long?”

Lilly’s eyes widened, “What?”

“How long have you been pregnant for?” Neville asked simply.

Daphne snorted at the end of the bed. Neville glanced down; he hadn’t even realised that she was there, but of course she was. These three people were his family, after all.

“I mean…well, I’m five weeks pregnant, but how did you know?” Lilly asked in disbelief, “You’re the least perceptive person I know, apart from Harry, obviously.”

Harry sniggered, “Thanks, Lil.”

“You’ve cried more in the past week than you have in our entire relationship,” Neville said, smiling widely at her, “I had a pretty strong suspicion that the IVF guy just tested you too early.”

“Yeah,” Lilly said, biting her lip, “And Harry checked me over. He healed me with the elder wand. It turns out I was anaemic, which was leading to placental insufficiency and therefore the miscarriages.”

Harry walked around to stand next to Lilly, “So it should be smooth sailing from here on out.”

“And he saved your legs,” Lilly said with a smile, “He gave this big heroic speech about how he was going to fix you so you would be able to run around the garden with your kids and teach them how to pot mandrakes.”

“Kids?”

Harry grinned at Lilly, “Are you going to tell him or shall I?”

“Oh, go on,” Lilly said with a wide smile.

“Twins mate,” Harry said, “You’ve gone and done a real Theo there.”

“Twins?” Neville asked, his eyes gleaming with excitement, “Two babies?”

“That’s what twins means Nev, well done,” Harry laughed, “Thought it was your back that was injured, not your head.”

“Shut up, you prat,” Neville said. He smiled broadly at Lilly, “That’s great.”

“Funny how the one who doesn’t have to push them out is happy about that, isn’t it?” Lilly asked in jest.

Daphne pushed herself to her feet and wrapped her arms around Lilly, “Still, it’s the best news.”

Neville smiled, “It is, but I think my pace of life is going to have to change a bit now. Don’t you?”

Harry bit his lip, “You will be able to come back after quite a bit of physiotherapy and rehabilitation but-”

“But I don’t know if I’ll ever feel comfortable again,” Neville finished, “This is a serious injury, isn’t it? It’s going to have repercussions.”

This question was directed at Lilly. She nodded and said, “Short term, walking is going to really hurt for a while, so we are going to have to ease you back up to full fitness. Long term…we don’t know for sure about that until we see how your short term recovery goes.”

“But,” Daphne interjected, “Talking of a slower pace of life. Harry, do you still want to get away from London?”

Harry shrugged, “I’d rather be a bit further away, but I love Potter Manor, Daphne. It’s my ancestral home and-”

“I know,” Daphne said, “So why don’t we move the house?”

Harry paused and looked her in the eye, “Move _the_ house?”

“Uh-huh,” Daphne answered, “We could head further north, somewhere with fresher air and lots of water. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

Harry bit his lip and smiled at her, “Yes.”

“Somewhere like the Lake District?” Daphne finished.

Harry just laughed and looked down at Neville.

Neville smiled, “We’d love to have you closer, you know that.”

“And Merlin knows Lilly’s going to need us closer now that she’s having twins,” Daphne said with a grin.

Lilly burst into tears again and hugged Daphne.

Neville shot Harry an amused look and Harry shook his head. He leant down and whispered, “I’ve had endless hugs, a lot of tears and at least one I love you since I saved your life. You’re going to need all the help you can get.”

Neville just laughed at that while Lilly proceeded to tell Daphne that she loved her and didn’t deserve a friend like her.

Daphne shot Neville a smile over Lilly’s shoulder and whispered, “It’s like Sadie all over again. This is karma for all of the times I laughed at Hermione, isn’t it?”

“Oh yeah,” Harry said with a smile. He sat back down at Neville’s side.

Daphne said, “And holy cow, you two can sleep through anything. Can’t you?”

Lilly wiped her eyes, “What do you mean?”

“Well Harry burned the elder wand to a crisp right here, and you two slept right through it,” Daphne remarked.

“You destroyed it?” Neville asked.

Lilly smiled proudly at Harry, “Good, it was too powerful. Nobody should possess that kind of power but…thank you for everything you did for us before you destroyed it.”

Neville grabbed Harry’s hand, “Are _you_ okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Harry said, giving Neville a false smile.

Neville saw right through it, “Harry, what did I miss?”

Harry sighed and looked down at a frayed thread on the blanket that lay across Neville, “Jack died.”

Neville’s face fell.

“Lucia hit him with a killing curse and I…” Harry frowned, “I lost it, and I killed Seamus.”

Neville’s eyes widened in surprise.

“And that look is why I hate myself for doing it,” Harry admitted, meeting Neville’s eye, “I was so angry when he hurt you, and I lost it. But then when it was done, I thought about you and how disappointed you would be in me. We always swore we wouldn’t…well, we made that pact, and I broke it.”

Neville squeezed Harry’s hand, “He deserved it.”

“That doesn’t make it sit any easier with me,” Harry said, “I said I would never kill with that curse and you said you would never use the cruciatus curse. I feel like I’ve dishonoured my parents.”

Neville shook his head, “I forgive you so I’m sure that they will too. You have spent your whole life fighting the darkness inside yourself, Harry, but you have never come anywhere near close to losing that battle.”

Harry looked up and met Daphne’s eye, “Haven’t I?”

“You haven’t,” Daphne promised, “Sometimes you just need a little nudging to keep you on the straight and narrow.”

“So it’s a good thing you have us to be your conscience,” Lilly finished.

Harry smiled genuinely at that. He looked from Neville to Lilly then finally at Daphne. He met her eyes and nodded, “Yeah, it is,” he agreed softly.

* * *

“How are you getting away with not being at work?” Hermione asked Draco while they all hovered around Theo’s bed later that day.

“I don’t know,” Draco admitted, “I’ve got no idea whose holding the department together at the moment. Most of the Senior Aurors are in here. I think Sheppard said that Mitch was keeping it afloat.”

“The better question is, how are _you_ getting away with not being at work?” Sadie asked Hermione.

Hermione shot her a smirk, “I told my boss that my husband's boyfriend wasn’t dead but really sick in the hospital, and I got two days annual leave.”

Draco raised an eyebrow at her, “You didn’t say that to Spalding, did you?”

Sadie grinned in amusement, “I’m pretty sure she did.”

“Hermione, he’s my boss too!” Draco exclaimed, “You told the Head of the DMLE that Theo is my boyfriend?”

Sadie chuckled under her breath as the other two bickered quietly on the other side of the room. While they were at it, she turned to Theo and looked at him for a long moment. He didn’t have the food and water tubes attached to him anymore, so he looked a little more like himself, but he was emaciated from weeks of barely eating.

The Healers kept talking about psychological damage; they had warned them that Theo might never be the same again. While he would make a full physical recovery, they were less than sure about his mental state.

* * *

As Theo drifted in and out of consciousness, awake but without enough energy to open his eyes, he heard snippets of conversations that were held around his bedside. The voices were usually the same three; Sadie, Hermione and Draco.

“Ella will be so happy to have him back,” Hermione was saying, “She misses him so much, even if she can’t quite express it the same way that we can.”

“She has been very quiet,” Sadie agreed.

“She adores Theo,” Draco said quietly, “She always has done.”

_A blood-curdling scream came from inside the bedroom. Draco sat down against the wall in the hallway and shook his head, “I can’t listen to this; it’s killing me. Why can’t they do something for the pain?”_

_Theo knelt in front of his best friend, “It’s childbirth, Draco. It hurts; it has to hurt. The pain is how they know if the labour is progressing well.”_

_Another scream came from the room, and Draco shut his eyes tightly, “When she screams like that Theo…I just…it just reminds me of that night during the war.”_

_Theo nodded, he sat down next to Draco, “The night she was tortured.”_

_Draco could only nod._

_“She’s not being tortured. She is giving birth to your daughter. The little girl who had you wrapped around her finger from the moment you found out that she existed,” Theo said softly, he grabbed Draco’s hand, and the blond man took a deep, shaky breath._

_“Do you think I should be in there with her?”_

_“No, I think she’d kill you,” Theo replied honestly, “She’s better with Sadie; she’s a calming influence.”_

_Draco just nodded._

_“And you know that Clara’s way over-qualified to be overseeing a simple birth,” Theo added, “But because she’s my sister-in-law, she was never going to say no when I told her that Hermione only felt comfortable with her because she didn’t think she could look Lilly in the eye again if she was the one who delivered her baby.”_

_Draco managed a small smile._

_Theo nudged him, “The screams have stopped.”_

_Draco’s eyes widened, “Does that mean…”_

_The bedroom door opened, and Sadie smiled at the two men, “Do you want to meet your daughter, Draco?”_

_Draco jumped to his feet instantly. Theo smiled and hung back in the corridor until Draco turned around and said, “Are you coming or not?”_

_“It’s your first baby. You should go in alone,” Theo said._

_“This is our family,” Draco told the dark-haired man, “We should meet her together.”_

_Sadie smiled at her husband, “Come on Theo, you need to see her. She is adorable.”_

_Theo followed Draco into the bedroom, where Hermione looked ready to pass out. She was holding a baby girl, wrapped up in a pink shawl._

_Draco sat on the edge of the bed and kissed her, “Are you okay?”_

_Hermione nodded feebly._

_“She will be in quite some pain for a few days,” Clara murmured, “But Sadie can explain that to you in due course.”_

_Draco gently moved the blanket away from the baby’s face and smiled tearfully. She had thick brown hair that Draco could already tell was going to be curly, and her eyes were bright blue._

_“Her eyes will change,” Theo said as he stood behind his best friend, “Charlie’s stayed blue, but Mina’s went dark, like mine.”_

_“I hope they go brown, like her mother’s,” Draco said softly. He looked up into Hermione’s eyes, which were very tired at the moment, “I love your eyes.”_

_Hermione smiled weakly, “I love you too, even though I really didn’t ten minutes ago.”_

_“Childbirth is a bitch, isn’t it?” Clara asked with a sympathetic smile._

_Hermione nodded and looked down at the little girl, “But it’s all worth it in the end.”_

_“She needs a name,” Draco said, still staring at the little girl._

_“Does that mean you two have agreed on one?” Sadie asked with a chuckle._

_“I like Ella,” Hermione admitted. She looked up at Draco, “And you like Elladora.”_

_“We would always call her Ella, even if her full name was Elladora,” Draco admitted, “Look at Mina and Charlie, when does anyone ever use their full names?”_

_“True,” Hermione conceded. She smiled at the baby in her arms, “Elladora…Narcissa…Black.”_

_The tears Draco had been struggling to hold back fell at that point, and Theo gripped Draco’s shoulder tightly._

_“My mother?”_

_“She saved your life, she saved Harry’s life,” Hermione said with a small smile, “None of our lives would be the way they are right now without your mother. I think she deserves to be honoured. Don’t you?”_

_Draco nodded, but he couldn’t speak because he was choked with tears._

Sleep took over, and Theo drifted into an uneasy slumber. It was full of shadows, dark shapes and fiery buildings. He wasn’t sure how long it was until he came to again. But when he did, he listened in on another conversation.

“I need to go and pick the kids up from my mum,” Hermione said with a yawn, “She took them out today and changed Cas’s name again.”

Draco snorted, “Why does she hate his name so much?”

“She doesn’t mind Elladora because we all call her Ella which is nice and normal,” Hermione said, rolling her eyes, “But Caspian is too ‘Narnia’ and ‘Cas’ is a girl’s name apparently.”

“What did she call him this time then? It was Colin the last time she took them out, wasn’t it?” Draco asked.

“Uh-huh,” Hermione agreed, “Today she called him Cassius, I’m not convinced that’s much more normal than Caspian mind you.”

“She’s one to talk anyway,” Draco remarked, “She called her only daughter Hermione. It’s hardly a nice normal name, is it?”

“Exactly!” Hermione remarked, “Mum says she hopes he starts using his middle name as his first name when he gets older. _Why couldn’t you have just made his **first** name Theodore, Hermione? **That’s** a lovely name for a little boy! _Ugh, she infuriates me!”

“You know, when we thought Theo was dead…” Draco said, “I kind of wished we _had_ just done that, but it would have been harder.”

“How so?” Hermione asked softly.

“Because every time I said my son's name, I would have remembered _my_ Theo.”

“Our Theo,” Sadie said, her voice was very soft.

“We made the right choice,” Hermione said.

_Theo had been working the graveyard shift. Draco should have been working it with him, but because his wife had gone into labour, he was granted leave. By the time Theo had caught the illegal potions brewer that they had gotten a lead on, chucked him into a holding cell and dashed back to Grimmauld Place, Hermione had given birth._

_He knocked on the bedroom door then opened it a little, “Can I come in?”_

_“Of course you can,” Hermione’s voice said._

_Theo pushed the door open and smiled broadly, “You had a boy this time?”_

_“The blue blanket is a dead giveaway, isn’t it?” Draco asked with a grin._

_Theo laughed. Draco and Hermione had found out what the gender was with Ella, but they had kept it a surprise with this baby._

_“He’s so cute,” Theo said as he sat down on the edge of the bed. Draco was sitting on the other side._

_“And so blond,” Hermione added._

_“He’s going to be his Dad’s double,” Theo said, shooting Draco an amused look._

_“As long as he doesn’t prance around saying, **my father will hear about this**! Then I’m fine with that,” Hermione teased._

_“I didn’t prance, **Harry** pranced.”_

_“No, he didn’t, you did,” Hermione chuckled._

_“You did, mate,” Theo smirked, “Sorry to break it to you.”_

_Draco rolled his eyes in response._

_“You seem much brighter than you did after Ella’s birth, Mione,” Theo said, looking at his cousin. She seemed tired but not anywhere near as wiped as she had been after her firstborn child’s birth._

_“This one was a lot easier,” Hermione admitted, “We were just discussing his name when you got here.”_

_“You going with another old black family name?” Theo asked, “Do we have another Sirius? Or Regulus? Or Arcturus?”_

_“Merlin, no,” Draco snorted, “You’ve met Hermione, haven’t you?”_

_Theo laughed, “What’s his name then?”_

_“Caspian,” Hermione replied, “Because it means from the sea and you know-”_

_“That you never intended to have a 22-month gap between your kids,” Theo finished with a grin, “I know, you wanted a three-year gap then you went to stay at that house Sadie, and I bought you by the Caspian Sea and boom, you were pregnant.”_

_“Exactly, thanks for phrasing it like that,” Hermione remarked with a roll of her eyes, “You make it sound like he was an accident.”_

_Draco raised an eyebrow at his wife, “Wasn’t he?”_

_“No, he just came earlier than planned,” Hermione said evasively._

_“Much earlier,” Draco and Theo chorused._

_“Oh shut up,” Hermione retorted, “Or I’ll change his middle name.”_

_“What’s his middle name?” Theo asked._

_Hermione glanced over at her husband. Draco smiled at Theo, “Theodore. His full name is Caspian Theodore Black.”_

_Theo’s eyes filled with tears and Hermione smiled fondly at the two men, “Go on, hug it out.”_

_Theo got up and walked around the bed. Draco got to his feet, and they hugged each other tightly while Theo tried to get his emotions under control._

_“Thank you,” Theo murmured, pulling back and wiping his eyes hastily._

_Draco seemed a little emotional too, “Who else am I going to name my kid after, huh? The guy who saved my life, in more ways than one, seemed to be the most obvious choice.”_

_“You bastard, you’ve got me crying again,” Theo said, wiping his eyes for a second time._

_“Hey! No swearing in front of the baby!” Hermione cut in._

_“Sorry!” The two men chorused, sharing matching grins as they did so._

* * *

It was very late at night when Theo eventually showed signs of life. The others had been getting increasingly worried because even the Healers thought that Theo should have woken up by now. The delay had everyone worrying about long-term psychological or brain damage which was why it was an encouraging sign when the first words out of Theo’s mouth were…

“How long are you guys going to stand around my bed like a bunch of creepers?"

Sadie laughed tearfully as he opened his eyes blearily, “We’ve been here all day. Nobody was going anywhere until you woke up.”

Theo smiled weakly at her, “Sadie.”

“Yeah,” Sadie said, meeting his eye, “It’s me, baby.”

Theo’s eyes hovered on Draco and Hermione for a moment, and the look in Theo’s eye made Draco feel sick. He looked at him warily, as if he was trying to work out if he should trust him or not.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Draco said. His voice caught in his throat.

“Theo, please don’t look at me like that,” Draco begged.

Theo’s eyes softened, and Draco crossed the room. He sat on the edge of Theo’s bed and hugged him as tightly as he could without hurting him. Theo slowly brought his arm up and draped it loosely over Draco. He shut his eyes and blinked hard as if he was trying to banish away a memory.

“Aren’t I the emotional one?” Theo murmured.

Draco didn’t move as he said, “You were dead, Theo. We buried you. I had to give your eulogy.”

He drew back and looked Theo in the eye, “We thought you were _dead_ , Theo.”

Theo held his gaze, “But you never gave up on me, right?”

Draco opened his mouth then closed it again. He tore his eyes away from Theo and said, “I did. I thought that you were dead.”

“It was Harry who realised what had happened, with the portkey,” Hermione said, gripping Draco’s shoulder tightly, “And Draco has been tearing himself to pieces for it ever since they found out that you were alive.”

Sadie touched Theo’s cheek, and his eyes fluttered shut for a second, “Don’t blame him for believing that you were dead, Theo. We all did. At first, when Sheppard told me, I couldn’t face it, but we buried you…”

“I know,” Theo said, his eyes far away, “Lucia made me watch her memory of the funeral. She taunted me, said that Draco basically told the whole world that he loved me in public.”

Draco frowned at that comment.

“Draco.”

The blond man looked up to meet his best friend’s eye, “You spoke from the heart and what you said….it was really beautiful. Thank you.”

Draco cleared his throat and nodded, but he couldn’t look Theo in the eye. Theo could see the guilt that still swam there, and Draco could see the uncertainty in Theo’s eyes. It was clear that things wouldn’t just go back to the way they had been before; they were going to have to work at this to make it right.

“How did you find me?” Theo asked quietly.

“It was a team effort,” Draco said honestly, “We worked out that there must have been a dirty Auror because our leads on Finnigan just disintegrated. When we slogged through everyone's personnel files, we worked out that Lucia Cross was Almina and Lucius’s daughter.”

Theo’s eyes flashed, “Our half-sister. How could neither of our parents tell us about that?”

“I don’t know if my mother knew,” Draco said honestly, “And your father…well he would have wanted the scandal to be buried with your mother.”

Theo exhaled shakily.

“Once we realised that Lucia was working with Finnigan, we infiltrated the crime ring and managed to get some of Finnigan’s blood. We tracked him to the church, and then all hell broke loose,” Draco finished.

Theo looked up, “What do you mean? Did we lose people?”

“We lost Sumner,” Draco said quietly, “Sheppard is acting Head Auror at the moment, and Harry is acting Assistant Head.”

Theo swallowed, “Everyone else is okay though?”

Sadie bit her lip.

“What happened, Sadie?” Theo asked gruffly.

“Some people were hurt,” Sadie said, “Some worse than others. Sorenson was burned when an explosion set one of the galleries alight.”

Theo’s eyes widened.

“He’s going to recover, but the right side of his body and face were burned,” Sadie said quietly, “He hasn’t woken up yet, they have him in a medically induced coma because they don’t want to risk too much movement damaging the burns before they can heal sufficiently. Clara says that the ones on his face are okay, Blanche, Ophelia and Percy managed to put the fire out quickly, but the ones on his body are quite bad.”

Theo looked guilty, and Hermione shook her head, “No, you don’t get to feel guilty about anything that happened on that raid. Every single person there was told that they could leave because it was a dangerous mission and, therefore, a voluntary one. Not a single person left Theo because the Aurors you work with all respect you. Every single person would go back and do the same again, given the choice.”

“She’s right,” Sadie said, squeezing Theo’s hand gently.

“Who else got hurt?” Theo asked, “Are Harry and Neville alright?”

“Harry’s fine,” Draco answered, “Neville…will be.”

“Harry had an advantage, but it’s a long story that I’ll tell you when you’re feeling a bit better,” Hermione promised, “That advantage meant that Harry could save Neville when he really shouldn’t have been able to.”

“After the explosion that hurt Sorenson, Seamus threw Neville into the damaged staircase,” Draco said quietly, “He had a stake embedded in his back. It had damaged his spinal cord, fractured his spine and punctured his liver. If it wasn’t for Harry, he would have had no feeling below the waist, but it looks like he’ll make a good recovery now.”

“Is that it?” Theo asked nervously.

Draco shook his head, “No…the last one who got hurt was Rob.”

“Rob?” Theo echoed, “What happened to him? He doesn’t even do fieldwork anymore.”

“He did this time,” Draco said, “It was him and Harry who went undercover in Dublin. Did you know that they kept a werewolf in another cell in the crypt?”

“Yeah, she mentioned that,” Theo admitted, “She said something about it being the perfect weapon against purebloods because it would make them worse than a half-blood or a muggle-born.”

“A half-breed,” Hermione said with a shake of her head.

“Yeah,” Theo sighed, “Did it bite Rob?”

Sadie nodded, “Jennifer is very understanding about the whole thing, but she did have a little cry on my shoulder in the canteen earlier.”

“It’s a big thing to adapt to,” Draco admitted.

“Well, it’s a good thing you got me out before she resorted to that with me,” Theo said. A small frown formed on his face, “But I swear to Merlin, I’m going to kill that bitch and her little lapdog.”

“You’re too late to kill Finnigan,” Draco said, “Harry already did that.”

Hermione looked over at him in surprise, “What?”

Draco nodded, “After he impaled Neville on that spike, Harry hit him square in the back with the killing curse.”

Hermione’s eyes darkened, and she looked at Sadie, “Harry used the killing curse?”

“When he turned around, he was hell-bent on killing Lucia too,” Draco admitted, “There was a flash of madness in his eyes, just briefly. The look that men like my father got when they advanced on a person.”

Hermione said nothing more on the subject, but they could tell that she would have words with Harry about it at a later date.

“Lucia got away,” Draco said bitterly, “But we’ll find her, and we’ll make her pay.”

“I won’t,” Theo said, looking down at himself, “Look at me, I’m not going to be fit for work for a while yet.”

“The road to recovery is going to be a long one,” Sadie agreed, “But you are going to recover Theo and when the kids find out you’re alive…”

Theo smiled at the mention of Almina and Charlus.

“They’re with Salvadora now,” Sadie said.

“I sent her a Patronus when you woke up,” Hermione added, “So with any luck, you’ll get to see them soon.”

“She made me watch them at the funeral,” Theo said, his smile disappearing.

Sadie gripped his hand a little tighter.

“And something really small made a strange thought pop into my head,” Theo confessed. He looked up at Sadie and Hermione, “You two walked behind the coffin, one of you with Almina and the other one with Charlus.”

Both women nodded.

“And you were both dressed in black, both crying…” Theo swallowed, “It was like having two widows.”

Hermione smiled sadly, “Well, although there are two marriages between us. There are four people in this relationship.”

“Even if we didn’t all realise that straight away,” Sadie said, shooting Hermione a guilty look.

Before any more could be said, the door opened, and Salvadora walked in with Almina and Charlus. The five-year-olds walked in slowly and looked at their father cautiously.

Theo’s eyes filled with tears, “I know I look different, baby,” he said to Almina, “But it’s me.”

“Daddy!” Almina said. She ran to Theo’s bed and scrambled up to hug him.

“Baby, be careful,” Sadie said, tears rolled down her cheeks, but they were happy tears now, “Daddy is still really sore.”

Charlus was more reserved than his sister. While Almina nuzzled into her father’s neck, Charlus stood next to his bed and said, “Mum said you died and went to heaven.”

“Everyone thought I had, Charlie,” Theo said, taking his son's hand, “But a bad person took me away and made everyone think that. Uncle Draco got me out and brought me home.”

Draco swallowed at those words. Hermione gripped his hand.

“I love you, Dad,” Charlus said quietly. He climbed up and sat on the edge of the bed.

“I love you too mate,” Theo said, kissing Charlus on the forehead, “And you baby,” he kissed Almina on the forehead, “So much.”

Salvadora smiled tearfully from the doorway and made to leave. She and Theo had gotten on so much better lately. Ever since the war, their relationship had improved, and after Almina and Charlus were born, she became a real help to Sadie and Theo. When Lacey went to Hogwarts, the house felt too empty, so she enjoyed having the twins around. She hated it when they called her Grammy in public though; she was only 32 after all.

“Stay, Dora,” Theo said when he saw her.

He would never call her Mum. He just couldn’t because she was only seven years older than him, but he had stopped calling her ‘Salvadora’ a long time ago.

She stepped into the room and kissed him on the cheek, “I am so pleased to see you, Theo. I have sent an owl to Hogwarts to get permission to take Lacey out of school. If Minerva agrees, I will bring her in to see you as soon as I can. She was distraught; she adores you.”

“I know,” Theo said, blinking away the tears in his eyes, “And I love her too.”

He swallowed a lump in his throat and looked around the room, “I love all of you,” he reiterated.

* * *

The Auror department was the last place that Harry wanted to be on a Sunday morning, and especially on _this_ Sunday morning. He and Daphne had left Lilly at the hospital with Neville the previous day, and Harry had spent the whole day hugging and playing with his kids. He crawled into bed and slept like a rock that night, but at 9 am on Sunday, John called him in via a Patronus, and he knew why.

When he got to the department, he wasn’t surprised to see that everyone who hadn’t been hospitalised by the raid was there. Everyone looked tired; they all nursed cups of coffee as they sat around the Assistant Head Aurors office.

When Harry walked in, John shut the door and pressed a button on the desk.

“For the record. Senior Auror Sorenson Cauldwell, Senior Auror Robert Wolfe, Auror Neville Longbottom and Auror Theodore Nott remain hospitalised following the raid in which Head Auror Jack Sumner was killed. They will be questioned individually as their condition allows.”

Harry swallowed, he didn’t usually fear internal investigations, but this time, he had done something wrong.

“During the Kildare raid, Senior Auror Sorenson Cauldwell suffered significant injuries. The first witness was Senior Auror Percy Weasley. Percy, would you describe what happened in your own words, please?”

Percy swallowed, “One of the men fired a blasting curse at us, it was confringo. I shielded against it, but it bounced back into the gallery and caused it to explode. The man atop the gallery died, and Auror Cauldwell was engulfed in flames. Aurors Wood and Zabini came to his aid with aguamenti, and as soon as I was able following the explosion, I aided them in putting out the fire.”

Blanche nodded, “I concur with that statement.”

“As do I,” Ophelia said.

John nodded, “The report concludes that no one is at fault in the injury of Senior Auror Sorenson Cauldwell.”

This didn’t stop Percy from looking guilty.

“Auror Black and I were the witnesses in the serious injury of Senior Auror Robert Wolfe. Auror Black, how would you describe this attack?” John asked.

Draco swallowed, “We were duelling in an enclosed space. Four of us against two men. While Auror Sheppard duelled one of them, he used magic to unlock a door. A werewolf ran out and attacked Auror Wolfe. Auror Sumner hit it with a killing curse which knocked it back but did not kill it, so I beheaded it.”

“And what spell did you use to do this?” John asked.

Harry listened with surprise; he hadn’t known any of this.

“I used Sectumsempra,” Draco answered sheepishly.

“Is that a homemade curse?” John asked.

“Yes.”

“And is it dark magic?” John prodded.

“Yes, sir.”

John bowed his head, “One-week suspension for the use of dark magic in subduing a subject.”

Draco swallowed and nodded, “Yes, sir.”

Harry felt even worse now, what he had done was much worse than that.

John continued, “The report concludes that there is no one at fault in the injury of Senior Auror Robert Wolfe. I can also confirm that there is no one at fault for the injury that Auror Neville Longbottom sustained. I witnessed this myself first hand. Longbottom was thrown against a piece of the wreckage by Seamus Finnigan who was killed while trying to escape the church.”

Harry looked at John expectantly. His boss turned to look at him, “Auror Harry Potter terminated Seamus Finnigan. Can you please describe how you did this, in your own words?”

“Finnigan had just thrown Auror Longbottom into the staircase, severely injuring him. I turned around and saw a killing curse hit Head Auror Sumner which had been fired by Lucia Cross,” Harry said emotionlessly, “I saw that Finnigan was trying to flee the church so I cast the killing curse at him and it connected with the back of his head.”

“Unauthorised use of an unforgivable curse,” John said.

“Yes, sir,” Harry said, his mouth was very dry.

“Do you have anything to say in your defence?” John asked.

“Yes, sir. I had just seen my boss who had mentored me from the point I began to train, die,” Harry said quietly, “And at that point, I was almost certain that my Auror partner and best friend would die too.”

John bowed his head, “It will remain on your record, and there has to be some form of punishment despite the extreme, emotional circumstances.”

Harry couldn’t bring himself to look at John.

“Two weeks suspension,” John said.

Harry just nodded.

They launched into the investigation into Sumner’s death which took longer because everyone who had witnessed it had to say their piece. When John pressed the button to end the recording, he dismissed everyone apart from Harry and Draco.

“Look, I had no choice but to suspend you both,” John said, “So no hard feelings, alright? But Draco, spend some time at the hospital and spend some time with your family.”

“Thank you, sir,” Draco said. He patted Harry on the back, “You did the right thing.”

“Did I?” Harry asked, a haunted look in his eyes.

“Yeah,” Draco said with a nod.

Harry sighed and nodded as Draco left the office. Harry looked up expectantly at John. The acting Head Auror sat on his desk and crossed his arms, “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Which bit?” Harry asked.

“You know which bit.” John said, “We’re not going to talk about _how_ you brought those wards down or healed Neville because the wizarding world isn’t ready to know about that. But you hate casting the killing curse so what made you do it? It’s more than seeing Neville get hurt.”

Harry sighed, “Just before we left to go on that raid, Lilly told me that she was pregnant and that I had better bring Neville home. When I saw that happen…I thought I had failed.”

John’s eyes softened.

“He’s going to be a dad, John.”

“Enough said,” John said, pushing himself off of the desk, “Spend your suspension with your family. Consider this the two weeks paternity leave that you didn’t get with Thea.”

Harry made a face, “I’m going to have to tell Theo that one, aren’t I?”

“That you named your kid after him?” John grinned, “Yep.”

“Reckon he’ll be gracious about it?” Harry joked.

“Nope,” John said, his grin widening, “When you come back, you’ll be starting your new job.”

“What?” Harry asked in surprise, “But I cast the killing curse…”

“With good reason,” John said firmly, “Jack wanted you as Assistant Head, and I need you as Assistant Head so you better shape up because you’ve got big boots to fill.”

Harry smiled proudly.

“During your suspension, Mitch will be the acting Assistant Head, but when you come back, it will be you,” John said with a smile.

Harry didn’t know what to say to that. He swallowed and nodded, “Thank you, sir.”

* * *

Theo knew that it was coming. He knew that he would be questioned about what happened to him. When John walked into his room, looking sympathetic, he figured the time had come.

“Welcome back to the land of the living, Theo,” John said. He sat down next to Theo’s bed.

Theo couldn’t even muster up the strength to nod. Beyond moving his head from side to side and speaking, he was all but useless.

“I asked your wife to go to the café and get herself a coffee,” John explained, “Because I am here in an official capacity.”

“Because Lucia got away,” Theo said quietly.

John nodded and held up his wand, “It’s an open investigation, and we’re about to go on the record.”

“Okay.”

John cast a spell, and the tip of his wand glowed red, “For the record: I am meeting in the hospital with Auror Theodore Nott, and the date is August 28th, 2005.”

Theo shut his eyes and waited for the onslaught.

“Theo, you were imprisoned for 16 days. Can you tell me roughly what happened during your imprisonment?” John asked him.

Theo breathed in deeply, exhaled then began, “For the first little while, it was just Finnigan. He came in once a day with a slice of dry bread and a cup of water. Then he beat me or tortured me. There were cutting curses, the cruciatus curse and burning spells. He asked me for information about purebloods. He wanted addresses, people’s known associates, but I kept my mouth shut.”

John nodded, “You’re doing great.”

Theo’s eyes darkened, “Then Lucia revealed herself a few days ago. She said it was safe to reveal herself because nobody was looking for me. She showed me her memories of my funeral and told me her story. She was abandoned in a hospital and raised as a muggle, but when she became an Auror, she realised that she was the daughter of Almina Nott and Lucius Malfoy.”

“Did she tell you how she discovered that?” John questioned.

“She showed me,” Theo said distastefully, “Sorenson told her.”

“Auror Cauldwell?” John asked, his eyebrows shooting up.

“Yeah, Auror Cauldwell. They were gossiping in the Organised Crime bullpen, and he mentioned that Almina and Lucius had an affair. By that point, Lucia already knew that Almina was her mother. She had worked that out from her birth certificate and from ‘Almina’s Law’ when the paper publicised it.”

John sighed, “Did she tell you why she was torturing you?”

“Oh, she made her intentions perfectly clear,” Theo said darkly, “She hates purebloods. She was a Ravenclaw at school, and she is incredibly smart. There were no loopholes in the wards of that place at all. She had considered everything. I like to think I’m a couple of steps ahead of my enemy in most situations, but sir, she was at least five steps ahead.”

“What does she want to do to the purebloods?” John asked.

“Wipe us out,” Theo answered, “She thinks the wizarding world is corrupt and that it lacks equality. She hates that the Wizengamot decide what happens in our world, not the general population. She thinks they have too much power and that they abuse it. She thinks that we all got away scot-free with our war crimes. She hates Draco and me, and she wants to remove the purebloods from power. She kept calling herself a revolutionary.”

“That ties in with what she said to Harry and Draco in their duel against her,” John said, leaning back in his chair and tapping his leg absentmindedly. He ended the spell and said, “We’re off the record Theo, so tell me the truth.”

Theo looked over at his boss.

“Do you think this is the end? Do you think she will give up now that Seamus and his henchmen have been taken down?” John asked hopefully.

“No,” Theo replied honestly, “I think she will find a new lapdog and get him to gather some more henchmen for her or she might just work alone, but this definitely isn’t the end. If anything, it’s just the beginning.”

“Yeah,” John said, an anxious look in his eyes, “That’s what I was afraid of.”

* * *

Harry went home and told Daphne about his suspension/unofficial paternity leave. She wasn’t surprised, he had used an unforgivable after all. When Andie and Thea went down for an afternoon nap, Harry said that he was going to nip into the hospital to check up on Neville.

Halfway along the corridor, he bumped into Draco.

“How much shit did you get in?”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Harry said honestly, “But the two-week suspension is shit. I want to catch this bitch.”

“You and me both,” Draco said. He lowered his voice as a Healer walked by, “I’m glad we bumped into each other actually.”

Harry took a step towards him, “Why?”

“This is it now,” Draco said, meeting Harry’s eye, “Neville is going to be on long-term sick and Theo…he might never be ready to come back.”

Harry nodded knowingly.

“So it’s you and me,” Draco said, “And whatever it takes, we’re taking that bitch down.”

“Agreed,” Harry said, “We’ll do what we can from home, but we need to take Sheps advice too. Daphne had a baby, and I ran off to save Theo and left her on her own. I need to focus on my family.”

“And I need to rebuild mine somehow,” Draco said, his eyes flickering towards the door across the hall.

“How bad is the psychological damage?”

“It’s bad,” Draco said with a sigh, “He opens his eyes and has a panic attack while he tries to work out if he’s in the real world or the nightmare world. He looks into my eyes, and it’s like…it’s like he doesn’t even know who I am.”

“Maybe Daphne should talk to him,” Harry suggested, “She’s the only other person who knows how he feels. She always described the nightmare world as another life. It doesn’t feel like a dream or a nightmare; it’s like she lived it then went back in time and changed her life. But she still remembered the past version.”

Draco swallowed, “He looks at Sadie the same way sometimes. He looks at her with so much guilt and sorrow; it’s like he can’t see the woman right in front of him.”

“If he killed her in that world and he remembers all of that…” Harry trailed off, “It will take time for the memories to fade, but if you keep replacing them with happy memories, they _will_ fade.”

Draco cleared his throat and nodded, “How is Neville doing?”

“He’s immobile, and he doesn’t like that,” Harry said, “But they don’t want him to be able to move his body just yet. Tomorrow they are going to try and get him sitting up, but walking is going to require a lot of rehabilitation.”

“He’ll need a cane,” Draco said.

“Yeah, he will,” Harry agreed, “And he wants to come to Sumner’s funeral, but he’ll be in a wheelchair.”

“I don’t even know if we’ll have Theo off enough tubes to come,” Draco said, looking at Theo’s door again, “But he will want to be there.”

“Rob is going to be a pallbearer, assuming he’s well enough,” Harry said, “Shep asked if you and I would do the honours too.”

“Of course,” Draco said, his eyes on the floor, “How is Rob?”

“Physically, all healed up,” Harry replied, “He’s a werewolf now which means he heals faster than the average person. They are keeping him in for another night to make sure he doesn’t get an infection then they are sending him home. He’s worried about how he’s going to afford wolfsbane though so once they are feeling a bit less overwhelmed, I was going to ask Sadie and Hermione if they would brew it for him.”

“You know they’ll say yes,” Draco said, smiling slightly.

“I know, but they’ve been through a lot in the past couple of days too,” Harry said pointedly, “You all have.”

“Yeah,” Draco said, rubbing his eyes, “Seeing my kids last night and sleeping in my own bed made all the difference. We just need to get Theo home now…”

“How long will he be in here for?”

“At least a fortnight,” Draco replied, “But he’s alive.”

“Yeah,” Harry agreed, “And that stands for a hell of a lot right now.”

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	14. Sometimes We Lose Our Way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:  
> For What It's Worth by Liam Gallagher.

Susan hadn’t been pushing her husband for answers. When he came home with charred robes, covered in blood, she watched him walk into the bathroom, and she didn’t expect him to come out for a while.

When he did come out, he left again. All he said was that it had been bad and that he needed to go back to the hospital.

By the time he spoke to her, it had been over 24 hours since the raid took place.

“Sorenson got badly injured,” Percy said, “And it was my fault.”

Susan placed a cup of tea in front of him and glanced across the room. Addison was doing schoolwork at the kitchen table and didn’t appear to be listening.

“How did it happen?” Susan asked calmly.

“There were two galleries, in the church,” Percy said in an undertone, “One of the bad guys sent a blasting charm down at us from one of the galleries, and I shielded against it. The blast bounced back and hit the gallery, burning Sorenson in the process.”

“Badly?” Susan asked.

Percy nodded, “He will be permanently scarred and on long-term sick until everything heals which could take a while.”

“Does _he_ blame you?” Susan asked perceptively.

“I don’t know, I’ve been avoiding him,” Percy admitted.

Susan sighed, “Perce, you need to stop blaming yourself for things that you can’t do anything about. If you hadn’t shielded against that curse, Sorenson would have died. Have you ever thought that he might be grateful?”

Percy frowned at those words, “I just…I don’t know where my head is right now, Susan.”

Now it was Susan’s turn to frown, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, am I good Auror? Should I keep being an Auror?” Percy whispered, “Or am I risking widowing you and leaving my daughter without a father? I just…that raid, and the consequences of it…they make you think about things. Rob is a werewolf; his life will never be the same and Jack, he’s gone. He’ll miss so many big moments in his daughter and grand-daughters life.”

Susan stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Percy.

The redheaded man sighed, “Neville’s life is going to change too.”

“What happened to Neville?” Susan asked, drawing back to look at her husband.

“He was thrown back onto a piece of the collapsed gallery,” Percy said, sighing heavily once more, “And it went into his back.”

Susan’s eyes widened, “Is he paralysed?”

“I don’t think so,” Percy answered, “But he should have been. From the rumours flying around the hospital, Harry performed some miracle surgery that healed his spinal cord.”

Susan leant against the counter, “Is Lilly okay?”

“Yeah, Daphne and Harry are keeping her afloat, she’s managing,” Percy answered, “It’s Theo’s family I’m worried about. The psychological damage he is going to suffer…”

“Theo?” Susan asked sharply, “He’s alive?”

“Shit,” Percy muttered, “Sorry Suse, I thought I told you that when I came in after the raid. My head is just fried.”

“Yeah, I know, but you have got to explain that one,” Susan said firmly, “How is he alive?”

“Long story short, he grabbed a portkey off the perp, and when the proximity charm went off, he was already gone. That portkey took him straight into the lair of Lucia Cross, the love child of Lucius Malfoy and Almina Nott. Her lapdog was Seamus Finnigan, they tortured Theo, physically and mentally. When we stormed the church to get Theo out, Harry killed Seamus.”

Susan’s eyes widened.

“With the killing curse,” Percy added, “And was given a two-week suspension. Draco was given a one-week suspension for beheading the werewolf that bit Rob, with dark magic.”

“For the love of Merlin,” Susan muttered, “What _is_ happening to the world?”

Percy shrugged and sipped his tea, which was almost cold now, “Theo was under the ancient nightmare curse; it’s such dark magic, Suse. Sadie managed to break him out, but most people don’t wake up after 12 hours or survive past 24. Theo was under it for 72 hours so the long-term implications on his mental health…”

“Poor Sadie,” Susan sighed.

Percy just nodded, “Yeah.”

“Thank you,” Susan said, leaning up to kiss his cheek, “For coming home, and for talking to me, eventually.”

Percy turned his head to the side and captured her lips, “I’ll always come home to you, I swore that on our wedding night,” he murmured.

“Ugh, Mum! Dad! Gross!”

“And Addison ruins the moment,” Susan said, shooting Percy an amused smile.

* * *

When John walked into Rob’s hospital room, he was smiling sadly.

“How you doing Wolfie?”

Rob snorted, “That name’s got a whole new meaning now, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah,” John agreed, sitting down next to his bed, “Sorry for the years of werewolf jokes that you’re inevitably going to get.”

Rob shuffled in his hospital bed.

“When they letting you out of here?”

“Tomorrow,” Rob answered, “And you can quit acting like you’re here as my friend. You’re here as my boss, aren’t you?”

“I am, yeah,” John admitted sheepishly.

“I know why you’re here, Shep,” Rob said. He reached into a drawer by the bed and handed John his badge, “So here you go.”

John shook his head, “What’s this?”

“My badge,” Rob said as if it were obvious, “I’m a werewolf now.”

John snorted and leant back in his chair. He smiled at his best friend, “What century are you living in? Have you forgotten what all of your proteges fought for? Equality? A better world? Lupin’s Law, ringing any bells?”

Rob looked a little sheepish.

“Werewolves have rights,” John said with an amused smile, “I’m not here to sack you, but I am here in an official capacity. I’m here to work out some new working conditions for you. Your first full moon will be on the 17th of September, so we’re going to give you a week off around it. A few days before so that you aren’t a snarky bastard to my wife and a few days after to recover because you can’t-”

“-use wolfsbane on the first moon,” Rob finished, “Yeah Shep. I did do some research after I got bitten.”

“There’s a first time for everything,” John said with a smirk, “After your first full moon, your new fixed rota will start. You will have three days off every month; the moon and a day either side of it.”

Rob raised an eyebrow at John as he continued, “We don’t want you doing graveyard shifts so no more nights, okay? Mitch had a chat with me today about retiring back to the training centre. Sam’s pregnant, and he wants a slower pace of life having worked Vice for the last little while. He has agreed to cover you though so he’ll work your graveyard shifts with Liz.”

“So…” Rob said slowly, “That’s all it took to get decent working hours out of you? Get bitten by a fucking werewolf?”

“Always the snarky bastard,” John sniggered as he got to his feet, “If you clear a medical at the training centre on Tuesday morning, you can safely get back to work. Alright?”

Rob gave him the thumbs up in response, and John put his badge back on the bedside table, “And you can have this back, you dramatic bastard.”

“Screw you!”

* * *

“Hey, stranger,” Daphne said with a smile.

Theo smiled weakly, “Hey. This the latest member of the Potter clan?”

“Yeah, this is her,” Daphne said, sitting by Theo’s bed, “She’s huge compared to Andrea.”

Theo turned his head to the side to look at her, “She’s gonna be your double.”

“I know,” Daphne chuckled, “The poor girls, nobody will believe that they are sisters just like with Astoria and me.”

Andrea looked like Harry with jet black hair and emerald green eyes. Thea, on the other hand, had Daphne’s pure-blonde hair and at the moment, her eyes were blue. That could change however, as she got older.

“So obviously…because of the whole nightmare curse…I can’t be sure how much of what Lucia told me and showed me _actually_ happened,” Theo said with a frown, “So was it just a lie or did you name her after me?”

“No, that bits true,” Daphne admitted, “Theo, meet Theodora.”

Theo’s eyes lit up with amusement briefly.

“I know,” Daphne rolled her eyes, “Theodora Tracey Potter but she’s called Thea. We’ll rarely call her Theodora.”

Theo looked like his old self for a moment as he let an amused grin slip onto his face, “But you…you hate me. You once told me that calling me Satan was an insult to Satan.”

Daphne shot Theo a knowing look, “I don’t hate you. I’ve never hated you, and you know that. You’ve known that since the war, I think.”

“I know.”

“You’re my family, and you were dead,” Daphne said quietly, “You deserved to be honoured, so we named her after you. I don’t regret that.”

Theo smiled weakly.

Daphne smiled back, “How are you coping?”

Theo shook his head, “I’m just confused, you know? I can’t quite make the two worlds come together…is that normal?”

“Yes, I would say so,” Daphne answered, “People can do worse things than kill you, you know?”

Theo nodded. His mind was far away.

“The Healers ran a deep diagnostic charm on you to make sure she hadn’t put any other curses on you, and it confirmed that you were under the nightmare curse for 72 hours,” Daphne said quietly.

“Is that bad?” Theo asked, looking over at his cousin.

“Most people don’t survive past 24 hours,” Daphne said, “And most people can’t be pulled out after 12. I was under it for a few hours during the war and look at how hard it was to pull me out.”

“I remember,” Theo said dryly.

“Whatever Sadie to you in there, she must have made it count,” Daphne said, “Considering that you nearly killed Draco when he tried to pull you out.”

“What?” Theo asked in surprise.

“You killed him in the nightmare world, and it made him go into cardiac arrest here,” Daphne explained, “Clara had to shock him with electricity to restart his heart. Didn’t he tell you that?”

“No, but we’re not really talking,” Theo admitted, “Maybe that’s part of the reason why.”

“He doesn’t resent you for it,” Daphne promised Theo.

“I resent him for things that he didn’t even do,” Theo said. He shook his head, “It makes no sense, I know, but I can’t quite get past the things that happened there yet. Did that happen to you? Did you struggle to tell the difference between your real feelings and the things you felt in the nightmare world?”

“A little, I suppose,” Daphne mused, “I was in a three-way with Draco and you in that world then after the war maybe I was overly attached to you two that summer. What feelings are you struggling to get over?”

“Hatred and regret,” Theo admitted, “I used to look at Sadie and feel love and admiration. Now I look at her, and I feel regret, I feel sad. I see the look on her face when I …”

Daphne took his hand and nodded.

“I used to look at Draco and feel love, friendship…now I look at him, and I just feel angry,” Theo said with a sigh, “He slept with Sadie. He betrayed me, and it’s stupid to feel like because he did it in that world he could do it in the real world, but I do feel that way. I worry about them all being in that house while I’m here. I keep thinking that Sadie slept with Draco while they thought I was dead. Like what happened with Pansy and me in the war, you know? When we thought Draco was dead?”

“I don’t think you have anything to worry about there,” Daphne said, “People can do stupid things when they are sad but not that stupid. Sadie and Draco both love you, Hermione loves you. They all do; they fought about that a lot when you were dead.”

Theo frowned, “They fought about loving me?”

“They pushed Hermione out a little,” Daphne explained, “They dealt with their pain by shutting off and shutting people out, leaving Hermione to struggle on with the kids on her own. She lost her temper about it with a big rant about how she loved you too. There was a big fight, I went into labour, Harry had to deal with it, and he missed Thea’s birth.”

“He missed his daughters birth to sort _my_ family out?” Theo asked in disbelief, “That fucking idiot! I’ll curse him for that as soon as I’m able to pick up my bloody wand!”

Daphne shook her head, “They were grieving, don’t give them too much of a hard time.”

Theo scoffed.

“Did you know that you had another curse on you by the way?” Daphne asked him, “An old one, it’s been there for years.”

Theo frowned, “What kind of curse?”

“A prank curse,” Daphne replied, “It releases a pheromone that makes animals think a predator is nearby which is why every creature that you got close to attacked you. It probably works on some magical plants that are sentient too, like the Venomous Tentacula. They took it off so you might be able to get a pet now.”

Theo scoffed, “Who the hell did that?”

“Probably a scorned lover of a Hufflepuff you shagged in school,” Daphne said, raising an eyebrow at him, “Karma is a bitch.”

“And so are you,” Theo retorted.

“Back to insulting each other,” Daphne grinned, “That feels better.”

“The natural order of the world is restored,” Theo agreed, shooting her a smile.

* * *

When Draco, Sadie and Hermione came in to visit Theo that night, he was a _little_ bit harsh on them. Before they had even had a chance to ask him how he was, he said, “So, what could possibly have happened in the summerhouse of Nott Manor at my wake to make Harry miss the birth of his kid?”

Draco rolled his eyes, “I told him not to mention that to you until you were feeling better!”

“ _He_ didn’t,” Theo said, “I’ve hardly seen him, but Daphne did tell me when she brought Thea in to meet me earlier.”

“Of course she did,” Sadie muttered.

“So, what happened?”

Hermione crossed her arms and looked at her husband and best friend, “I’m not telling him, it wasn’t my fault.”

“It wasn’t my fault either!” Draco said, looking at Sadie pointedly.

“It _was_ my fault,” Sadie admitted, “I was sad. Draco had just read me the letter that you left, and we were smoking in the summerhouse together.”

Theo narrowed his eyes at his wife.

“So I kissed Draco, and it was stupid,” Sadie said quickly, “He was just about to pull away and ask me what the hell I was doing when Hermione came in and…”

“Lost her shit,” Draco finished.

“Yeah,” Theo said, turning to look at Hermione, “I don’t blame you.”

“Theo-”

“Sadie,” Theo cut her off calmly, “Could you and Draco leave us alone for a minute? There’s something I need to discuss with Hermione.”

Draco swallowed, and tears swam in Sadie’s eyes, but they left the hospital room anyway.

Hermione sat down next to Theo’s bed, “What do you want to discuss?”

“Nothing really,” Theo admitted, “I just want to make them sweat for a bit.”

“Theo!” Hermione chastised him, “Sadie is still really cut up about it-”

“So she should be!” Theo exclaimed, “How pissed off were you?”

Hermione bit her lip, “Have I ever told you about what I did when Ron came back during the war?”

“No,” Theo said slowly, “But Harry said you were batshit insane and kind of scary.”

“Yes, well…I’d say it was on a level with that,” Hermione admitted sheepishly.

Theo frowned at the bushy-haired girl, “Daphne said you lost your temper and said that you loved me.”

“Do you believe everything that Daphne tells you?” Hermione quipped.

“She showed me her memory of your rant,” Theo said, smiling slightly.

“Oh…shit,” Hermione muttered with a roll of her eyes, “ _Why_?”

“Because she said if I tried to talk to you about it otherwise, you would just pretend it hadn’t happened,” Theo said, an old familiar smile slipping onto his face.

Hermione shook her head, “It was hard, while you were gone. Okay? I’ve always known, but those two didn’t realise that you were the glue that held us all together until you were gone. They were retreating into themselves, and I had no choice but to carry on for Ella and Cas. They thought that meant I cared less, but it was just that between the kids and stopping those two from self-destructing, I didn’t have time to grieve.”

Theo grabbed her hand, “Thank you for holding them together when I couldn’t.”

“I barely managed,” Hermione pointed out, “Look what happened.”

“They didn’t sleep together, did they?” Theo shrugged.

“They wouldn’t have,” Hermione said, “Draco was about to put an end to it before I came in. It just took me quite a few days to calm down and accept that.”

“Have you told him that you’ve accepted it yet?” Theo asked, smiling slightly at her.

“Nope,” Hermione said with the hint of a smirk.

Theo chuckled, “Oh, I’ve missed you Mione, and I’m pissed off at them for the way they treated you. I’m going to tell them that.”

“I think they already know,” Hermione muttered as she opened the door and let Sadie and Draco back in.

They looked at Theo expectantly, and warily.

“You kissed my wife-”

“- she kissed me.”

“Okay, let me rephrase that,” Theo said. He looked at Sadie, “You kissed my best friend at my _wake_.”

“I’m so sorry, Theo,” Sadie said very quickly.

“If I had been dead, I’d have struck you both down with lightning,” Theo said matter of factly.

“Theo, you can’t do that,” Draco deadpanned, “Lightning is a natural act, not a-”

“How do you know? You weren’t dead!”

“Neither were you!”

Their eyes met, and they both smiled. And for a brief moment, before the light left Theo’s eyes, things felt like they had before.

* * *

The Burrow was a bustling place these days. Most Sundays, it was more of a creche than a family home.

Harry and Daphne arrived late and apologised profusely for missing the last couple of Sunday dinners. Molly shushed them and said that it was fine. Percy had been keeping them in the loop, and with all that had happened, she understood completely.

Harry was bombarded with questions from the Weasley’s about Neville and by the time he had answered them, Draco and Hermione had arrived. They apologised too and got the same speech from Molly. Draco quietly told Molly that this was the first time they felt it was safe to leave Sadie to come and socialise with the family, and again, she understood.

Eating was a fun experience with so many young kids around, which was why Molly tended to do a buffet whenever she could these days so that everyone could eat at different times throughout the afternoon or evening.

The eldest of the Weasley (and adopted Weasley) children was seven-year-old Teddy and then six-year-old Victoire.

Ron’s eldest child, Freddie, had always gotten on well with Hope and Addison. They were all around the same age, Freddie and Hope would be six in October and November respectably, and Addison had just turned four. They had also all been only children until Freddie’s parents had both had children with their new partners.

Katie had married Oliver Wood in 2001 after dating him for a couple of years. Ron hadn’t been bitter about that because, at that point, he was seeing Felicity. She was a barmaid at the Three Broomsticks who he had fallen hopelessly for. They had gotten married the previous year, and they had six-month-old twin boys called Gideon and Fabian. Katie and Oliver had two children as well. Noah was around the same age as Harry’s son Alastor and Jessica was only four months old.

There were a lot of toddlers running around, which was why Arthur, with the help of Bill and Charlie, had made a little enclosed playground that they couldn’t escape from. At the moment it was occupied by Roxanne, George and Angelina’s only child (who would be three in December), Alastor, Andrea and Elladora.

Cas and Thea were the babies of the family. Thea slept soundly in Daphne’s arms, and Cas was lying on a blanket on the grass, kicking his feet quite happily.

“How glad do you reckon Mum is that we convinced her to put up that false atmosphere charm?” Bill asked, nudging his brother in the side.

Charlie snorted, “Can you imagine if we had to try and fit everyone into the house? It would be manic.”

“You gonna have a little sprog anytime soon?” Bill asked curiously.

Charlie shrugged, “I dunno, probably not. I see the dragons more than I see Astoria right now. The business is doing well, which means she’s out of the country more than she’s in it.”

“You two are alright though, aren’t you?” Bill asked in an undertone.

Charlie looked up and smiled, “Yeah, we’re fine. I’m happy with my dragons. I kind of resigned myself to not having kids when I married a girl half my age.”

Bill snorted, “I did the whole young, hot wife thing then realised I couldn’t keep up with her. Now I’m settled with someone my own age. You’re doing it the wrong way round.”

“Or I’ve just got more stamina than you,” Charlie said, grinning at his big brother, “I can keep up with Astoria just fine.”

Bill elbowed Charlie in the ribs and looked over at Lara who was chastising Victoire for chasing the chickens around the garden.

“You want another one, don’t you?” Charlie asked knowingly.

“Yep,” Bill admitted, “It’s Daphne’s fault. She’s making me broody with all of these babies she keeps having.”

“I reckon they’re done now,” Charlie sniggered.

“They bloody better be,” Bill grumbled, “I need her back. She’s the only competent curse breaker in that bloody bank.”

“Oh come on, she isn’t. She’s just the only one who can work with you and your weird quirks,” Charlie teased.

“My weird quirks?” Bill objected.

“Yeah, taking your classic car on _every_ rural job, so you look all badass driving through the gates of a country house in that beauty,” Charlie said as he began to list said quirks on his finger, “Eating raw bacon out of the packet on the morning of the full moon, needing a coffee with four sugars in it the morning _after_ the full moon, _growling_ at her when she pisses you off anytime during the week of the full moon. Should I go on?”

“Oh no Char, I think you covered them all,” Daphne said matter of factly.

Bill spun around and pointed at her, “Oi! You don’t get to slag me off. I’m pissed off with you.”

“I’m pissed off with you!” Daphne countered, “I’m on maternity leave, don’t call me once a week asking me for advice. You have other minions to help you!”

“They keep quitting!” Bill exclaimed, “Apparently, I’m difficult to please.”

“You _are_ difficult to please,” Daphne muttered.

“I feel like I just walked in at the wrong time,” Lara said, raising an eyebrow at them.

“Is he difficult to please, Lara?” Charlie asked with a sly grin.

Bill punched his brother in the arm.

“Ouch!”

“How long has your wife been out of the country for?” Lara asked Charlie, “Because you’re rather tetchy.”

“Oh, it’s been a month, at least,” Daphne said as she shuffled Thea in her arms, “So yes, he’s grumpy because he needs a shag.”

Charlie rolled his eyes, “You being my sister-in-law sucks.”

Daphne smirked in response.

“How’s Theodora doing?” Bill asked Daphne, his eyes sparkling in amusement.

“Yeah, has she met her namesake yet?” Charlie chimed in.

“Shut up,” Daphne muttered irritably.

“What would you have named her if I had died?” Bill asked, “Wilhelmina? Billie?”

Daphne shot her boss a smirk, “Oh, I don’t know. I might have just named her Charlotte to piss you off.”

Charlie laughed loudly, “I take back what I said about hating you being my sister-in-law.”

“Why do I miss you?” Bill muttered, “You’re sarcastic, and a bitch.”

“But for some reason, I’m the only curse breaker at Gringotts who you can work with,” Daphne said with an amused grin, “You’re a diva, you know that? The goblins all say so.”

Charlie was gone; he was doubled over laughing, “The goblins?” he cackled.

Lara was biting her lip in amusement.

“I am not a diva!” Bill objected, “Am I?” he asked Lara.

“Well…”

“The fucking goblins think he’s a diva,” Charlie said through his laughter.

“Charles Weasley, watch your language in front of my daughter!”

“Sorry, Theodora.”

“Thea.”

“Theodora, that’s what you christened her,” Bill chimed in.

“But Theo is alive now, so she’s called Thea,” Daphne said firmly, “Call her Theodora one more time, and I’ll curse your bollocks off.”

“He’s gonna need them if he can convince Lara to have his baby,” Charlie sniggered.

Lara looked up in surprise, and Bill rolled his eyes, “I hadn’t told her yet, you fucking idiot!”

“Language!”

“You want another baby?” Lara asked in surprise.

Bill glared at his brother, “Maybe, I don’t know. We’ll talk about this when we’re not here.”

“Sorry,” Charlie admitted sheepishly.

“Idiots,” Daphne said, shaking her head fondly at the two men.

* * *

Harry could sense that Hermione was annoyed with him, and he had a good idea why that was. She must have found out from Draco by now that Seamus was dead and he expected that she knew exactly how he had died.

It was for that reason that Harry avoided her as much as possible that evening at the Burrow. He did have other people that he needed to speak to as well, to be fair.

“Perce,” Harry said quietly, cornering his friend by Arthurs shed, “How are you doing?”

Percy sighed and shrugged, “I just feel so guilty.”

“What happened to Sorenson wasn’t your fault,” Harry pointed out.

“It was,” Percy argued, “I shielded on autopilot, but that was rash and stupid and-”

“- what anyone else would have done,” Harry finished, “Even me. You did the only thing you could. You made the best of a bad situation.”

Percy’s frown deepened, “I can’t stop thinking about it. If it had been able to deflect it in another direction…Sorenson wouldn’t have gotten burned, and Neville wouldn’t have…”

Harry swallowed, “Neville is going to be okay.”

“If you believe that, why did you swallow the minute I said his name?” Percy asked. He was one of the Weasleys who Harry could always rely on to call him out on his bullshit.

“Honestly? Because we don’t know how severe the long-term consequences are going to be yet and that scares me,” Harry said, tearing his eyes away from Percy’s, “But it wasn’t your fault. You deflected, you didn’t have time to deflect it in another direction, and if you had, you could have brought the whole church down on all of us. You did the right thing.”

Percy’s frown deepened, “I wish _I_ could believe that. I’ve been talking to Suse and….”

His eyes fell on Susan, who was holding one of Ron’s twins and chatting away happily to Felicity. Ron’s wife was a pretty young woman. He clearly had a type because she did have a lot of Lilly about her. She was a bit taller than Lilly but had dark brown hair, freckles and deep blue eyes. She was very buxom, which meant that poor Ron had gotten so many jokes about falling for that stereotypical barmaid, but the two of them were in love and Felicity was lovely. She was probably the only person who was as Chudley Cannons daft as Ron was. Thank Merlin that Oliver had managed to get Freddie into Puddlemere.

Harry watched Percy knowingly. He could see exactly where this was going.

“I’ve been thinking of resigning,” Percy finished.

“No,” Harry said simply.

“What?”

“You can’t,” Harry said, “You’re a brilliant Auror, Percy, and it looks like we’re going to lose two of them.”

“You don’t think Neville and Theo will come back?” Percy questioned.

“I don’t know if Neville can, physically,” Harry admitted, “And mentally…Theo might never be ready to.”

Percy didn’t say anything as he contemplated that.

“Have you spoken to Sorenson since it happened?”

Percy shook his head, “I was staying away because I felt guilty, and I knew they had him in a medically induced coma.”

“They woke him up earlier this afternoon,” Harry said, “So go in and have a chat with him before you resign. I’m going to be starting a new job when I come back from my suspension, and it will be me that you need to come to if you do want to resign, so take that time. Take two weeks to consider it.”

“You’re the new Assistant Head?” Percy asked.

“Yeah, I know,” Harry snorted, “It’s hard to believe, right?”

“No, it isn’t,” Percy said honestly, “I can’t think of a better man for the job.”

From Percy, that was high praise, so Harry smiled broadly, “Thanks, Perce.”

* * *

“How’s Neville doing?” Blanche asked Harry in a whisper. She had cornered him in the kitchen as he nipped inside to get some juice for Andrea.

The Weasley’s all knew about Blanche’s involvement in Ginny and Blaise’s marriage now. It had become apparent rather quickly because Blaise rarely came to the Burrow and Blanche had become a staple. She was always out in the shed with Arthur coming up with new ways to modify the muggle gadgets that he kept there.

“He’s okay,” Harry said. It wasn’t a lie; he _was_ doing alright all things considered.

“Is he going to come back or…” Blanche let the question hang in the air.

“I don’t think so,” Harry replied, “We’ll find out in the next few days what the long-term prognosis is but…I don’t think it’s going to be great.”

“So you and Draco are both going to be left partnerless,” Blanche frowned.

“Yeah,” Harry said. It was a miserable thought, going back to work without Neville but he comforted himself with the fact that Neville was alive. Even if they didn’t get to see each other every day anymore, they would still get to see each other.

“It would make sense for you and Draco to partner up,” Blanche mused.

Harry opened his mouth to say that he was planning on suggesting the same thing to John. But before he could say anything, Hermione walked into the kitchen and said, “Sorry Blanche, but I need to yell at Harry.”

Blanche snorted, “I’m not getting in the way of that; be my guest.”

Hermione grabbed Harry’s hand and dragged him through the house to the room at the very top, which had once been Ron’s bedroom. It was an office now, but all of the Chudley Cannons memorabilia was still stuck to the walls with permanent sticking charms.

“You _killed_ Seamus Finnigan with the killing curse,” Hermione hissed the minute the door was shut, “Seamus who we went to school with for _seven_ years. Seamus who fought with us in the war! You killed him with an unforgivable curse?”

“He tried to kill Neville!” Harry snapped, “So don’t you dare guilt trip me for what I did! I don’t give a shit about what he did in the war. I care about what he’s done for the last five years, which is all bad!”

Hermione crossed her arms and glared at him, “That doesn’t make it okay to-”

“If I hadn’t had the elder wand - worst-case scenario Neville would have died and best-case scenario, he’d have no feeling below the waist,” Harry said coolly, “So I do not regret what I did. Seamus deserved it, and if I went back in time, I’d do it the same way again.”

Hermione looked Harry in the eye, “Draco said he saw a hint of madness in your eyes after you killed Seamus, a flash of red.”

“Yeah, he probably did,” Harry said, turning away from Hermione to look out of the window, “Which is why I burned it.”

“What?” Hermione shrieked, “You burned it? A priceless, ancient artefact?”

Harry rolled his eyes and turned around to look at her, “Make your mind up, Hermione! One minute you’re telling me off for being evil because of it, and then you’re pissed that I got rid of it?”

“You should have hidden it, not burned it,” Hermione said irritably.

“No,” Harry said, “It’s a dangerous, semi-sentient wand. I don’t think I’m a dark person, morally grey at best, maybe.”

Hermione frowned.

“But it gave me dark thoughts,” Harry said, “It turned to darkness so easily. It felt happy when it was killing or using dark curses. It can do things that shouldn’t be done. It can mend wands, heal injuries that should be unhealable. _Nobody_ should have that kind of power, Hermione.”

Hermione stared at him in disbelief.

“So I threw it into the fires of mount doom, metaphorically.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him “You think you can make a Lord of the Rings joke and make it all okay?”

Harry shot her a slightly amused look, “Everyone who looked at it had a glint of madness in their eyes. You could see that the thought of stealing it, of just disarming me and having all that power, flashed through their eyes. I’m not talking about Lucia here either; I’m talking about good people like Clara and John.”

Hermione sighed and nodded, “I understand.”

“You don’t agree, but you understand,” Harry said knowingly, “And that’s enough. It had to be destroyed, or I’d be too tempted to go and get it back. I got addicted to alcohol once, and I couldn’t let myself get addicted to the power of that wand or…I would have gone dark.”

“Okay,” Hermione said. She sighed and hugged Harry, “Sorry.”

Harry hugged her back silently and looked out of the window at his family.

* * *

When Harry and Daphne popped in to see Neville on Monday afternoon, he was in a bad place. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, and Lilly was looking out of the window with tears in her eyes.

“What happened?” Harry asked anxiously.

Lilly spun around, “What happened? Neville got slightly bad news and is now the most depressed person you’ll ever meet!”

“What was the bad news?” Harry asked quickly, “Can you walk?”

“With difficulty,” Neville said. He pushed himself back against his pillows and swung his legs back onto the bed. Even doing such a small thing made him grimace in pain.

“Here,” Harry said, helping him to twist his body around in bed.

Neville collapsed back against the pillows and took a shaky breath.

“No duelling for six months,” Neville said, opening his eyes, “And no transforming my body in any form for a year, that means no Animagus form.”

Harry nodded, unsure why this news had made Lilly so upset, “Well…you can still come back to work when you feel able. You can work in CPS or something. That has hardly any field work-”

“I won’t come back to be a desk Auror,” Neville said irritably, “What’s the point?”

Daphne bit her lip and looked at Lilly, “What else did the Healers say? Because this wouldn’t have gotten you so upset, pregnant or not.”

Lilly looked at Neville. He rolled his eyes, “Would it matter if I told you not to tell them? You’d tell Daphne anyway; you tell her everything.”

Daphne frowned at the bitterness in Neville’s voice. She looked at Lilly expectantly, and the shorter woman leant against the window sill, “The Healers went through the long-term consequences of spinal cord surgery with us this morning.”

Harry glanced at Neville; he had a feeling he knew where this conversation was going.

“And one of the things they told us about was lack of feeling,” Lilly explained, “He will be able to walk, but he might need a cane for the rest of his life. Although his spinal cord was repaired, the nerves around it were still damaged, and because of where they were, it might be a bit more difficult for him to…” Lilly trailed off, “You know?”

Daphne raised an eyebrow at her, “Get it up?”

Harry snorted, “Daph!”

“Well there’s not any point in dancing around the subject, is there?” Daphne asked, grabbing Neville’s chart from the end of his bed, “Where was the spinal injury again, above or below T10?”

Lilly looked at her in surprise.

Daphne looked up, “What?”

“That’s medical terminology.”

“Yes,” Daphne said slowly, “And?”

“You’re a Curse breaker,” Lilly said pointedly, “How do you know medical terminology?”

“Because she spent four hours reading up on spinal cord injuries while Thea was cluster feeding last night,” Harry said, sitting down next to Neville’s bed.

Neville looked quite honoured about that, but Lilly was still stunned.

“So, was it below or above T10?” Daphne asked again.

“Uh,” Lilly gave herself a mental shake, “Above.”

“Right,” Daphne mused, she looked down at Neville’s chart again, “Well…you will struggle with some sorts of erection, Nev.”

Neville looked mortified, “Daphne,” he cringed as he pulled the cover over his face.

Harry grinned in amusement, “Neville. With the things that have happened between the four of us, how can this conversation make you embarrassed?”

“Shut up,” Neville muttered underneath the covers.

“From what I read, it’s psychogenic erections that probably won’t happen anymore,” Daphne continued, unphased by Neville’s embarrassment, “That’s when you look at something or think about something and get an erection. Like if Lilly and I kissed right now, nothing would happen.”

Harry bit back a laugh as Neville muttered something incoherent under the covers.

“Because of the fact your spinal cord was regrown, the message from your brain won’t be able to get through very clearly which is why it will be difficult, but cells regrow and relearn so that probably won’t be forever,” Daphne assured him.

Lilly smiled in amusement as Neville dared to peer out from underneath the covers.

“Refloxogenic erections should still be fine,” Daphne added, “That’s when you get an erection from physical touch or stimulation. I mean it might not last as long as it used to, to begin with, but there are spells for that.”

“That’s what I told you,” Lilly said matter of factly.

“And because Harry did such a good job on your surgery, you’ll still be able to have orgasms, it will just be harder to get there,” Daphne finished, “You’ll get a taste of what it feels like to be a woman.”

“Daphne!” Lilly exclaimed although she was trying not to laugh.

“All and all, it’s a good thing there are four of us,” Daphne said, shooting Neville an amused look, “If you find it _really_ hard once you’re recovered enough to try, I’m sure I could help Lilly out.”

“Daphne!”

“And he’s gone,” Harry snorted as Neville went back under the covers.

“Should I be worried that you and Lilly said exactly the same thing?” Neville’s muffled voice asked.

Daphne looked over at Lilly, “Did you?”

“I suggested that you would probably be willing to help out, worst-case scenario,” Lilly admitted with an amused smile, “And that Harry would probably just watch.”

“Harry, why aren’t you denying that?” Neville’s voice asked.

Harry looked between Lilly and Daphne, “Well…”

“Oh for the love of the founders,” Neville muttered, “I want the ground to swallow me whole.”

Daphne looked at Lilly and shrugged, “At least he’s not depressed anymore, right?”

“Embarrassed is a definite improvement,” Lilly joked.

“I want you all to go away and stop embarrassing me!” Neville’s voice said from beneath the covers.

Harry laughed and sat down on the edge of Neville’s bed. He lifted the covers and peered under, “Look, mate. Rob hit the nail on the head when I told him I had to run away and say goodbye to my family before the raid. He said I had two wives, four kids and a Neville.”

“What am I, the family dog?” Neville objected.

“No, that category most definitely goes to Rob..”

“Harry!” Three voices echoed in disbelief.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	15. Show Me All The Scars You Hide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:  
> Stand By You by Rachel Platten.

It didn’t matter what age he was; it didn’t matter that he was a grown man with a family of his own now. When Narcissa Greengrass, who had treated Theo like a son for most of his life, stormed into his hospital room, Theo got nervous.

“Ah,” Narcissa said, casting her eyes over Theo, “So the rumours are true then. You _are_ alive.”

Theo’s eyes widened, “Draco didn’t tell you?”

“No, Theodore,” Narcissa said coolly, “Draco did not tell me. I had to find out from my _step-daughter.”_

Theo grimaced.

“Which begs the question, where did I go wrong when I raised my son?” Narcissa continued, “I thought, despite his father's misgivings, that I had raised him to be a good man, the kind of man who communicates with his mother. But no, instead I found out from my husband’s daughter that the boy I had treated like a son was alive and deathly ill in the hospital!”

“Well, at least Daphne told you,” Theo said.

“Of course Daphne told me,” Narcissa snapped, “She’s a good girl, but it would have been nice to receive a Patronus from you, or Draco.”

“Please don’t give me a guilt trip,” Theo said sheepishly, “I physically couldn’t have told you. My magic was drained while I was held captive, I can’t even use Lumos; there is no way I could conjure up a Patronus right now.”

Narcissa’s eyes softened, and she sat down by Theo’s bed, “Draco should have told me.”

“He should have,” Theo agreed, frowning at the opposite wall to avoid meeting Narcissa’s eye.

“Do you know why he did not?” Narcissa asked.

“Not for sure,” Theo admitted with a shrug, “Maybe he just feels uncomfortable talking to you about the whole thing. You know, because of Lucia being our evil half-sister and all.”

“No, I do not know about _any_ of that,” Narcissa said, crossing her arms, “ _Lucia_?”

Theo grimaced, “Shit.”

“Theodore,” Narcissa said firmly, “Explain.”

“Lucius had an affair with my mother,” Theo said, “You know about that part?”

“Of course I do,” Narcissa said distastefully, “They hardly tried to hide it. The two of them were always sneaking around as if I didn’t know.”

“Sorry to bring it up, Narcissa,” Theo said quietly, “But Lucius got my mother pregnant. She was killed the day after the baby was born, so I think that was probably why my father killed her.”

Narcissa reached over and placed her hand on Theo’s.

Theo sighed, “The baby was named Lucia Cross, and she grew up in foster homes then ended up going to Hogwarts and becoming a Ravenclaw. Now, she’s an evil sociopath who hates purebloods and wants to revolutionise the world.”

“Wonderful,” Narcissa said sarcastically.

Theo didn’t say anything.

“How are _you_?” Narcissa asked, in a bid to change the subject.

Theo pasted on a smile, “I’m fine,” he lied.

Narcissa raised an eyebrow at him, “Theo, I spent the majority of my life living a lie. I spent a long time pretending to be happy, _pretending_ to be under an imperius curse. I can see when someone is pretending to be fine when they are not.”

“My heads all over the place right now,” Theo admitted, “But I will be fine.”

Narcissa didn’t look convinced.

“I will be, Narcissa,” Theo said, his eyes flashing dangerously, “I have to be.”

Narcissa sighed, and Theo asked, “Are you okay? You seem a little…irate.”

“I am,” Narcissa confessed, “Do not get me wrong, I love Daphne’s children, I truly do, but I see more of them than my own grandchildren. I look after the Potter children all of the time, but I rarely get to look after Elladora and Caspian.”

Theo frowned, “I suppose I’m to blame for that too. There are four of us, and we practically live together, which means there’s normally always someone to watch the kids. Poor Sadie, it’s normally her mind you since she works from home.”

“Even then, when someone does need to watch the children, Hermione always sends them to her parents,” Narcissa said with a frown, “I get the feeling she does not trust me.”

“Of course she trusts you,” Theo said softly, “She came up with Ella’s name, not Draco. I was right there when they named her and Hermione suggested that they give her the middle name of Narcissa. Did Draco ever tell you why they did that?”

Narcissa shook her head.

“Because you saved Draco’s life and you saved Harry’s life,” Theo told the older woman, “And you changed the course of the war by doing that, Narcissa. Without you…it might have all been very different. Hermione said that, _not_ Draco.”

Narcissa sighed but said no more on the subject.

“I think you just get saddled with the Potter kids more because there isn’t really anyone else,” Theo confessed, “Neville and Lilly both work all the time so they can’t help out with the kids much. Astoria is rarely in the country, and Molly has so many grandkids to look after already that Harry and Daphne feel guilty when they need to ask her for help. You and Cygnus are all they really have.”

“I know,” Narcissa said, she cleared her throat, “And as I said, I don’t mind. I love those children, and I suppose by marriage, they are also my grandchildren, but I would love to see more of Elladora and Caspian.”

“I’ll make sure you do,” Theo said, smiling over at her, “Once I’m out of the hospital, and things settle down, I’ll talk to Draco. I’ll remind him to visit you more.”

“It would be nice if you all visited, Theo,” Narcissa confessed. Her blue eyes shone with emotion, “I should like to see more of all of you.”

Theo nodded, “You will and…I’m sorry for not paying you enough attention these past few years.”

Narcissa bowed her head in thanks, and they fell into a comfortable silence.

* * *

Rob didn’t often feel nervous, but as he stood outside CPS on Tuesday morning, he did. He had passed his physical and was therefore fit to return to work for a week or so until he would need to take some time off for his first full moon. All the same, he was unsure how his colleagues would react.

It was for this reason that he stepped into the main office somewhat hesitantly.

"Rob," Elizabeth said with a smile, "You're back."

"Yeah," Rob said, putting his bag down, "I'm back."

One of the Aurors who worked under them, Jason Savage, stepped forward and gave Rob a bear hug, "It's so good to see you, man. Liz wanted us to keep away from the hospital. She said you, Jen and the kids needed time to adjust and all.”

Rob nodded and smiled over at his sister-in-law, "We did. Thanks, Lizzie."

Elizabeth didn't even roll her eyes at the old nickname. She just bit her lip, and Rob frowned, "Alright, what's going on? You're all looking like you’ve seen a ghost.”

"No," A cold voice said, "Just a werewolf."

Rob turned around and looked at the other Auror who worked under them, Lux Montgomery.

"Lux-"

"Here," Lux said, handing Rob a piece of paper.

Rob laughed humourlessly, "You're transferring?"

"With immediate effect," Lux added.

"Lux," Jason said, stepping forward, "You are being rash, and nobody blames you but-"

"Stay out of this, Jason," Lux said sternly.

Rob threw the piece of paper down on the desk, irritably, "Scared of the big bad wolf, Lux?"

Lux drew her wand, "A werewolf killed my brother! My five-year-old brother! It's the reason my sister and I became Aurors, and you know that. How the hell do you expect me to work with a beast like you? You should have been sacked the moment you were bitten!"

"Montgomery!" Elizabeth snapped, "That is out of order and not your place to say! The Acting Head Auror made the decision-"

"Oh, come on!" Lux snapped, "Of course the Acting Head Auror isn't going to sack him! Not when he has you whispering in his ear, controlling all of his decisions."

Rob opened his mouth to yell, but before he could, Elizabeth drew her wand and said coldly, "If you dare disrespect me any further, I _will_ duel you, and I _will_ ensure that a copy of this memory is given to Sheppard. However, if you leave right now, I will put this entire thing down to an emotional fit caused by regret over your brother's death. Am I clear?"

Lux glared at Elizabeth but holstered her wand and left the building all the same.

"Thanks, Liz," Rob said, sitting down behind his desk slowly.

"It's probably for the best that she leaves anyway," Elizabeth said, holstering her wand, "What with her and Jason sleeping together and all."

Jason looked up in surprise, "What?"

Rob managed a small smile, "Mate, Liz and I have known for months."

"Months?" Jason asked in disbelief, "Well...shit."

Rob snorted.

"I'm sorry about the things she said to you, Rob," Jason admitted, "I don't feel that way. I've got as much respect for you as I ever had, if not more-"

"Right Jace, I get it," Rob said simply, "Stop kissing my arse now, alright?"

"Alright," Jason said with a sheepish smile, "Sorry."

Rob shook his head and looked down at the files on his desk, "What are these?"

"Personnel files," Elizabeth replied, sitting down on the edge of the desk, "Harry helped me pick the new Juniors while you were in the hospital."

" _Harry_ helped you?" Rob scoffed, "Okay A, he doesn't even work in this department and B, he’s suspended!”

“And nobody cares about that because they never come to the CPS building,” Elizabeth pointed out with an amused smile, “Apart from you, he's the only person who can spot the kids who have a tragic backstory. You taught him too well, Rob."

Rob smiled genuinely at those words, "I do miss that kid."

"You see him once a week at his poker night," Elizabeth said with an amused smile as she flicked open the first file, "Read."

Rob glanced down, "Dennis Creevey? Why do we want him? He scraped through his exams in training! I'm going to fire Harry."

Elizabeth crossed her arms and shot Rob an amused smile, "We want him because he saw his older brother Colin die in the Battle of Hogwarts, but he stayed and fought on anyway, even though he was only 15 at the time. He's compassionate, he's a Muggle-born, and he knows how hard it is to lose someone you love. He'll fit in great around here."

"True," Rob agreed reluctantly, "Who else do we have?"

Elizabeth slid the second file over, and Rob opened it. He didn't even scoff this time, he just said, "Seriously?"

"Seriously," Elizabeth said, "I was reluctant too, but Harry said she would be perfect. He wouldn't tell me why. He said it was something that he would need to discuss directly with you."

"Romilda fucking Vane," Rob said, shutting the file, "The trainee who tried to shag her way round every other recruit in her year and a couple of her bloody trainers. You know Jen will kill me for that one, don't you?"

"Oh, don't be silly," Elizabeth remarked, "She knows that I'll keep you in check."

Jason snorted, "Wonder what Potter knows about her that makes her such an asset."

"Godric knows," Rob said with a shake of his head, "But I'll find out tonight because I'm going to go to his place and ask him what the fuck he was thinking."

"Vane might be a bit promiscuous, but that doesn't make her a bad Auror," Elizabeth defended the girl, "She did well in all of her exams, written and practical. She's a better candidate on paper than Dennis Creevey, Rob. Talk to Harry and give the girl a chance, the same goes for you, Jace."

Jason nodded, "Will do, boss."

"What are we going to do about Lux?" Rob asked, already wishing he hadn't come back to work today, "Jace hasn't got a partner. We can't be sending him out to the closes without a partner."

"I had a floo call with John about that this morning," Elizabeth admitted, "I knew that Lux was transferring and it had me worried. The problem is that there are quite a few gaps at the moment. John is going to make Harry Assistant Head Auror as we all expected, and Draco is joining Homicide to become his new Auror partner."

"Harry Potter is going to become the youngest ever Assistant Head of the Auror department," Rob said in mock surprise, "I never expected that, and I certainly didn't have a betting pool on it."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "Rob, be quiet. Did you catch what I said about the gaps?"

"Yeah," Rob admitted, "Does that mean that Theo and Neville aren’t coming back to the force at all then?"

"It doesn't look like it," Elizabeth answered, "Neville had a serious scare, and I think it will be a long time until Theo is mentally ready to come back."

Rob nodded, "So Vice is down two Aurors then?"

"Yeah," Elizabeth said, rubbing her eyes, "We don't know what's happening with Sorenson yet either.”

"What do you mean?" Rob asked with a frown.

"He has a month-long sick line, but depending on how the healing goes, that might need to be extended," Elizabeth said, "John is trying to find a temporary partner for Blaine, but there's a chance that Sorenson won't come back. He blames himself for what happened to Theo."

"It's a fucking mess, Liz," Rob said, letting his head drop onto the table.

"I know it is," Elizabeth said, "Just be grateful that you don't have to step into the Head Aurors shoes right now."

"Yeah," Rob said, pushing himself to his feet, "I'll talk to John, see if he wants to go out for a drink and talk shit over."

"Please do," Elizabeth said, her tone a little pleading.

* * *

When Hermione reached the door to Theo’s hospital room, she smiled at the sound of laughter coming from within. It was nice to hear him laugh again, and it was the reason she walked in the room with a smile on her face.

“Hey, Mione!” Theo said.

Sitting by his bed was Neville, albeit it in a wheelchair.

“Hey!” Hermione said, “You two both look brighter than I’ve seen you since you woke up.”

“Ah well, I’m just laughing at Nev’s expense,” Theo said. He shot Neville a grin, “Lucky bastard.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow, “Care to fill me in?”

“Long story short, the biggest complication Neville is going to have to face after his surgery is erectile dysfunction,” Theo grinned, “So Daphne offered her services.”

“Theo,” Hermione said, biting back an amused smile, “You make her sound like a prostitute.”

“She’ll change Thea’s name if you say that one in front of her,” Neville warned.

Theo snorted.

“Hence the lucky bastard comment,” Hermione said as she sat down on the edge of Theo’s bed, “I mean…he’s not wrong though, Nev.”

“Hermione!”

Theo grinned, “Oh princess, I have rubbed off on you over the years.”

Neville shook his head, “If things carry on this way though, I’m going to have to stop denying that we’re a foursome.”

“You know that you are anyway,” Hermione said with an amused smile, “Not to the same degree as us maybe. I mean we did all sleep together the night before the raid because Draco thought he might die-”

“You did what?” Theo spluttered, “Without me?”

“ _Slept_ together,” Hermione said slowly, “In the same bed, with pyjamas on. There was a lot of snoring, Draco ended up on the floor. Your wife doesn’t put up with that in the middle of the night, does she?”

Neville sniggered, and Theo smiled fondly, “Yeah, she likes her sleep.”

“Speaking of sleep, I’m going to head along the corridor and catch some myself. It was good to chat though, Theo,” Neville said, smiling at his friend.

“Yeah,” Theo agreed, “I feel a bit more human Nev, thanks.”

Neville tapped the edge of his wheelchair and rolled out of the room. The door swung shut behind him, and Hermione looked over at Theo, “How do you feel about breaking the rules a little?”

Theo laughed warmly, “Well, I have been a bad influence on you. Hermione Granger-”

“Black,” Hermione cut in, raising her eyebrows at him, “It has been Black for quite some time now.”

“Five years in December,” Theo agreed with a nod, “Time flies, doesn’t it?”

“It does,” Hermione agreed, “But back to the point. Remember I told you that we needed to have a chat about that big advantage Harry had?”

“Yes and since Neville just told me about his miraculous recovery, which included things happening that shouldn’t be possible, I _need_ to hear that story,” Theo admitted.

“It’s not the kind of story I want to tell you _here,”_ Hermione said, “So I managed to convince the head Healer on tonight's shift to let me take you for a walk, but you _need_ to use a wheelchair.”

“The head Healer is Clara, isn’t it?”

“Nope,” Hermione grinned, “It’s Lil.”

“I swear, your kids are going to be in Slytherin,” Theo chuckled as he pushed himself up, “But I am so game for getting out of here for a while.”

Hermione pulled a wheelchair out of the cabinet next to his bed and put it up with magic. Then she moved to help Theo get up, but he stopped her.

“Please, don’t,” Theo said.

Hermione pulled her hand back.

“I want to see if I can do it by myself,” Theo confessed, “Because I want to be able to go to Sumner’s funeral on Friday.”

“Of course you do,” Hermione said softly, “I’m on hand to catch you, but on you go.”

Theo’s biggest problem was that he was incredibly weak. His organs had been repaired, and there were no longer any tubes attached to him. However, he was still on a diet of small meals because his stomach couldn’t handle a large amount of food after he was practically starved for two weeks. The smaller meals meant that he had less energy, and he had lost a lot of muscle mass during his imprisonment.

Theo swung his legs out of bed and slid onto the floor. He gripped the edge of the bed and walked steadily towards the wheelchair. He managed to turn himself around and sit down with ease, but he did look a little out of breath.

“Well done,” Hermione said with a genuine smile, “You made that look easy.”

“You think I’ll be able to go to the funeral?” Theo asked.

“I think so,” Hermione said, pushing his wheelchair out of the room, “And if you carry on the way you are, I don’t think you’ll need a wheelchair either. I think you’ll be just fine with a cane and regular breaks to sit down.”

“Good,” Theo said with a nod, “It’s important to me. I really want to be there after what he did to get me out.”

They talked about the funeral and Hermione filled him in on Harry and Draco’s suspensions. Hermione didn’t change the subject until they reached a secluded area of the hospital gardens. She parked Theo’s wheelchair and sat down on a bench.

“Muffliato.”

Theo shut his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the warm, evening sunshine, “You don’t realise how much you appreciate the little things until all you have for days are the walls of a cell. You miss the fresh air, the feel of the sun on your face, the smiles on your kid's faces, the touch of the people that you love.”

“You’ve always been a toucher,” Hermione joked, “And I don’t mean that in a sexual way either. You just like to touch those close to you.”

“I struggle to express my emotions,” Theo admitted, “So I tend to try and do it through touch and when nobody touches you apart from to inflict pain for two weeks…”

Hermione put her hand on his knee, “I know. It’s not the same, and I can never pretend that it is, but I struggled after I was tortured in Malfoy Manor. I flinched every time Harry and Ron touched me when I wasn’t expecting it. I had nightmares for a long time. When someone hurts you, you don’t just bounce back, and none of us are expecting you to.”

Theo smiled at her, “Thank you.”

Hermione nodded, “Do you want to hear this story?”

“Yeah.”

“You know the Tale of the Three Brothers, don’t you?” Hermione began.

“Of course I do, I read it to Charlie all of the time,” Theo said with a fond smile, “It scares Allie.”

Hermine surveyed Theo for a moment, “Well, the story is true.”

Theo laughed, “Funny.”

“I’m serious,” Hermione said. She caught Theo’s eye, and he stopped laughing.

“Really?”

“Really,” Hermione confirmed, “We discovered this during the war. We found out from Scrimgeour that Dumbledore had left us things in his will. He left me his copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and he left Harry the snitch that he caught in his first Quidditch game.”

“What did Ron get?” Theo asked curiously.

“Dumbledore’s old deluminator,” Hermione answered, “He had his reasons for leaving each object. Ron ran away and left us, and Dumbledore must have suspected that he would do that because the deluminator led him back to us.”

Theo nodded, “And he left you the book because he knew you were smart enough to work out that the story was true?”

Hermione smiled, “I suppose so. I thought the snitch might have a flesh memory, so I told Harry to put it to his lips. I thought it would open because he-”

“Caught it in his big gob, yeah I remember,” Theo cut in.

“But it didn’t open; it just came up with a message - _I open at the close_ , it said,” Hermione explained, “So when Harry was about to sacrifice himself in the forbidden forest, the snitch opened and inside was the resurrection stone. He saw his parents, Sirius and Remus. They walked with him to his death.”

“Jeez,” Theo breathed.

“And the key to defeating Voldemort was the elder wand,” Hermione continued, “He knew about it, and he wanted it. The last person to be the master of it was Dumbledore, so Voldemort thought by disarming Snape, he was the master of it. When it didn’t work, he killed Snape, but there was a flaw in his plan.”

“Snape didn’t disarm Dumbledore,” Theo realised, “Draco did.”

“Exactly,” Hermione agreed, “So when Harry disarmed Draco in Malfoy Manor, he became the master of the elder wand. He took the wand from Voldemort in the final battle and hid it because it was too dangerous to be used by one man.”

“Does Draco know that he was the master of the most powerful wand in existence for like six months?” Theo asked curiously.

“No, you can help me break that one to him,” Hermione said.

“Thanks for that princess,” Theo joked.

Hermione chuckled, “Anyway, Harry already had the last hallow, the cloak of invisibility.”

“So his one is _the_ one?” Theo asked in disbelief.

“Yes,” Hermione said, “He hid the resurrection stone after the final battle because with how much he’s lost, it could drive him insane. He told me he didn’t have it, so I lost my temper with him a little until he told me that he could use the stone to find out if you were dead.”

“And that’s how you worked out I was alive?” Theo asked.

Hermione nodded, “You didn’t show up when he summoned you with the stone, and Sirius said you hadn’t passed through, so we knew you were still alive. They just had to work out who had taken you and where you were.”

Theo nodded.

“Before they went into that raid to save you, Harry took the elder wand from the place where he had hidden it. He knew that they would be outnumbered and he wanted every advantage that he could get,” Hermione explained.

Theo frowned as Hermione continued, “He managed to take down the wards on that church with _one_ finite incantatem.”

“That’s impossible,” Theo said with a shake of his head, “Those words were on a par with the ones that the professors put on Hogwarts for the final battle, and it took hundreds of Death Eaters nearly an hour to tear them down.”

“Exactly,” Hermione said, “The power that thing has is immense, but it doesn’t make you a better wizard or dueller. It just enhances the power of every spell you cast with it.”

Theo was stunned into silence by this.

“That was how he saved Neville,” Hermione finished, “Spinal cords can be repaired, but the nerve damage usually can’t be unless the caster is very powerful. With the elder wand, Harry did a near-perfect job which is why the biggest issue Neville will have to face is struggling to keep it up sometimes.”

Theo sniggered at her wording, “I shouldn’t laugh. I couldn’t cope with that; I love sex.”

Hermione snorted in amusement.

“How come he couldn’t change Rob back with the elder wand if it can do such miracles though?” Theo asked, “Or wake me up, for that matter?”

“Because it can only enhance spells that already exist,” Hermione answered, “There is no cure for lycanthropy, and a nightmare curse is, in essence, a mental illness. No spell can wake someone up from it, just the counter curse which only the caster knows because they decided on the wording. The only way to be woken up is to snap out of it, which the person usually can’t do without help from someone that they love like-”

“-Sadie Cauldwell.”

Hermione smiled, “She is pretty amazing.”

“She is,” Theo agreed, “She saved my life.”

“She’s not the only one though,” Hermione pointed out, “Daphne was the one who worked out that you were under a nightmare curse. The Healers said that you were in shock and your body was shutting down, but Daphne saw what nobody else could.”

“And she named her kid after me,” Theo said with a shake of his head, “She can’t pretend she doesn’t like me anymore.”

“No, she can’t,” Hermione laughed.

Theo leant back in his wheelchair, “I don’t think I’ll ever go back, you know?”

“To the Aurors?”

“Yeah,” Theo said, his eyes were very far away, “I don’t know if I’ll ever trust my instincts again, or the Aurors that I work with. I think I’d spend my whole career looking over my shoulder, expecting to see evil and…I don’t want to become like mad-eye.”

“If you decide not to go back, we’ll all support that decision,” Hermione promised him, “You’re so smart Theo, and although it will take a while for you to get back to full fitness, you’re still so capable. You can do almost anything that you want. There’s not any point going back if it will make you miserable.”

“Do you think Draco will understand?” Theo asked her.

“I know he will,” Hermione promised, “Because he’s already prepared for the fact it might just be him and Harry now.”

“Oh so he’s replacing me with the chosen git, is he?” Theo joked.

“I think you’ll find that Harry is probably going to need a new partner too, and as the next Assistant Head Auror, he kind of gets to pick,” Hermione said with a smirk.

“He’s the Assistant Head Auror?” Theo asked.

Hermione nodded, “The night before the big raid Sumner said that if he died, he wanted Sheppard as Head and Harry as Assistant Head. It’s a good thing Sheppard came out alive because otherwise, Rob would have gotten the top job.”

“What the fuck?” Theo snorted, “I mean I love Rob, but there’s no way that man should ever be in charge of the Auror department.”

“It’s a good thing that it worked out the way it did then, isn’t it?” Hermione quipped, “Come on, we had better get you back inside before I get in trouble with the Healers.”

“Oh come on, what are they going to do? Kill you? Or worse, expel you?” Theo teased with a grin.

“I hate Ron for telling you about that,” Hermione said with a roll of her eyes.

* * *

“The fuck are you doing giving me Creevey and Vane?”

“Hey Rob, how was your first day back on the job?” Harry countered, shooting his friend an amused look.

Rob crossed his arms, “Creevey, I kind of get. Tragic back story, dead brother, wants to fight for justice and equality. Yeah, he’ll probably fit in okay but Vane?”

“There’s a reason behind it, a _good_ one,” Harry said, “But we can’t talk about it here.”

_Here_ was the drawing-room of Potter Manor.

“I need to go out and feed Dave so-”

“No,” Rob said with a shake of his head, “No, I’m not going out to your creepy little snake cave.”

“Oh come on Rob, they’re just snakes,” Harry said with a snort.

“I hate snakes,” Rob said firmly, “They creep me out with their beady little eyes. It’s not happening, no fucking snakes.”

“Fine then, come down to the basement,” Harry said.

Rob didn’t object to that, the basement was where they had their poker nights, and because it had a bar, a duelling platform and was dark and broody, it was where the Aurors were most content.

Harry opened a beer and handed it to Rob then he sat down on a barstool, “Not long after Al turned one, Daphne and I decided that we needed to find out who his parents were, if we could.”

Rob frowned but listened more intently, “Okay.”

“He looked like me,” Harry said, “And it freaked Daphne out. She had this little moment of self-doubt when she asked me if I had slept with someone else then brought the baby home.”

“He does look kind of like you,” Rob admitted.

Harry nodded, “So we did a DNA test, and it came back with Potter DNA.”

Rob’s eyes widened, “He’s your kid?”

“No, he _has_ Potter DNA,” Harry said calmly, “Daphne freaked out. He has the signature Potter messy black hair but not the green eyes; he has brown eyes. She made me take veritaserum to prove that he wasn’t my kid. I don’t blame her; it did look suspicious. I did bring a newborn baby home one night and insisted that we adopt him, then he grew up to look like me, and it turned out that he had Potter DNA.”

“So whose kid is he? Because there aren’t any Potters left,” Rob pointed out.

“There are a lot of people with Potter DNA though,” Harry said, “I’m just the last in the male line. Either way, Daphne and I pulled out a physical copy of the family tree and had a look at descendants from the Potter family. If you go back to my grandfather, he had a sister, Elladora-”

“Who married into the Malfoy family, I know,” Rob said with a nod.

“But there was no way that Alastor was Draco’s, so that crossed that line off,” Harry continued calmly, “So we went back further, to my great great grandfather, Elijah. He had a younger brother called Nicholas. He had three children, Adaline who married a Longbottom and died without an heir. Amelia who married into the Abbott family and Isaac who married a Bones. If you go down Amelia’s line, there were so many people who it could be so we focused on Isaacs line. Are you still following?”

“Just about,” Rob admitted.

“Isaac had two daughters who died in infancy and a son called Isaiah,” Harry said.

“Original,” Rob remarked.

“Isaiah married a Selwyn and then had a daughter called Juniper who married Cuthbert Vane,” Harry said, ignoring Rob’s comment, “I went to school with his two daughters, Emma and Romilda.”

“Right,” Rob frowned, “So Romilda is Alastor’s mother? That’s why you want her to work in CPS?”

“No,” Harry said, shaking his head irritably, “Quit interrupting. Daphne and I went to talk to Romilda about it. She confessed that Alastor wasn’t her baby, but her older sisters. Emma was a Healer who was often called out to the closes. One night after delivering a baby, she was raped in a stairwell of one of the flats, and she fell pregnant. She hid her pregnancy and talked Romilda through the delivery of Alastor. Then she left him at CPS because she thought that I would take him in and that way, he would be raised by family.”

“Why is it never fucking simple with you Potters?” Rob asked in disbelief, “Why can’t the random abandoned baby just be a random abandoned baby?”

“Welcome to my life,” Harry said with a roll of his eyes.

“Do you know who his dad is?” Rob asked.

Harry nodded, “I do, but I swore not to tell anyone or arrest him. I made that promise to Romilda, and for my son's sake, I’ll keep it. I don’t want this to get out in the public eye, and Emma is happy. She’s married and pregnant with a baby she planned to have, she isn’t going to come back and take Alastor away from us.”

Rob nodded thoughtfully, “So you think Romilda will be a good fit?”

Harry looked up at his friend, “Yeah, Romilda will fit in at CPS. She wants to bring about change; she doesn’t want anything like that to happen again. When it comes to unplanned pregnancy or domestic abuse, she’ll understand. She’s understanding and caring. She’s a nice person Rob, just give her a chance.”

“Okay,” Rob said, “You know best, Mr Assistant Head Auror, sir.”

“Shut up, Wolfie.”

Rob smiled weakly, “Whole new meaning that nickname…”

“How are you coping?” Harry asked genuinely.

“Ah, I’m okay,” Rob shrugged, “Bit worried about the first full moon, but that’s natural, isn’t it?”

“Do you want me to spend it with you?” Harry asked, “You can’t hurt me in my animagus form, and if you hurt yourself, I’ll just cry on you.”

“ _I’ll just cry on you_ ,” Rob snorted, “You realise how weird that sentence is, yeah?”

“Yeah but my animagus form is a phoenix, remember?”

“I know and…if you don’t mind, I’d love the company,” Rob confessed.

“Of course I don’t mind,” Harry said with a natural smile, “Drink your beer then we’ll have a duel. We’ll see if being a werewolf has improved your reflexes.”

“Fuck you!”

* * *

Percy didn’t muster up the nerve to talk to Sorenson until Thursday, the day before Sumner’s funeral. He figured if it went badly, he could use that as an excuse for his presence.

He knocked on the door, and Sorenson said, “Come in!”

Percy stepped into the room and smiled weakly, “Hey.”

“Hey, Percy,” Sorenson returned, “You been avoiding me? I’ve not seen you since the raid.”

“I have been avoiding you,” Percy admitted, “I’ve been thinking about resigning.”

“Why?” Sorenson snorted.

“Because I feel so guilty about what happened to you…” Percy said, looking at Sorenson’s face. The bandages on his face had been removed now, but the burns on his body were worse, and they were still healing. His skin was red and raw on one side of his face, but his ear seemed to be okay. Where his hair had been burned, was also red and blistered.

“I’m going to have a chat with your brother about growing my hair long,” Sorenson said, “It’ll cover the worst of the scars that way. Oscar got a bit of a shock when he saw me, but when I told him it didn’t hurt, he was okay.”

“He starts Hogwarts today, doesn’t he?” Percy asked, looking up at the calendar on the wall. It was the 1st of September.

“Yeah,” Sorenson said with a smile, “They let me out for an hour, so I got to see him off at the platform. He found Grayson Sheppard and disappeared onto the train quite happily. He’ll write tonight to let me know where he ends up.”

“Gryffindor like you probably,” Percy said with a chuckle.

“Or Ravenclaw like his-” Sorenson cut himself off, “- like Clara.”

“She has been around since he was small,” Percy mused, “Does he see his biological mother?”

“No,” Sorenson said with a shake of his head, “No, he hasn’t seen her for years. He was two days old when she dumped him with me.”

“That’s a lot of pressure to put on a kid just out of school,” Percy said, sitting down by Sorenson’s bed.

Sorenson shrugged, “I got her pregnant, I’m as much at fault as she was. You don’t think about the consequences when you’re young and stupid though, you just have fun and think it won’t happen to you…”

Percy nodded thoughtfully, “I was never young and stupid. I was old beyond my years and ridiculously conservative. Then my brother died, and I realised that there was no point in living my life the way that I had been. You know, I got back together with Penny Clearwater after we broke up in high school?”

“Yeah, I knew you were with her before you started seeing Susan,” Sorenson said.

“I thought that was the life I wanted, but it wasn’t,” Percy said with a shake of his head, “Sometimes it takes something horrible to make you realise what you want.”

“Yeah,” Sorenson said, leaning back in his bed, “I want a kid, with Clara. I didn’t think I was that bothered. I figured we have Oscar and he loves Clara to bits, but what happened in that raid…it gets you thinking, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Percy sighed, “I want another kid too. I’ve been trying to convince Suse for years. But it would be wrong of me to use a near-death experience to get her to agree.”

“Worked for me,” Sorenson said, shooing Percy a grin.

“It did not work for you, Mr Cauldwell,” A familiar voice said.

Sorenson looked up at the door, “Didn’t it, babe? You agreed.”

“I agreed because, for some inexplicable reason, I want your babies too,” Clara teased, “You need your dressings changed.”

“Oh, I’ll just-”

“Nah, you can stay Perce,” Sorenson said as he gently pulled his t-shirt off, “You’re not that squeamish, are you?”

“He has his Healer qualification, so he better not be,” Clara said, shooting Percy an amused smile.

Percy shook his head, “I’m not squeamish.”

While Clara changed Sorenson’s dressings, she said, “What has you two talking about babies anyway?”

“Near-death experiences, they make you re-evaluate,” Percy explained, “And Susan’s always said that she’s happy with Addie, but I’ve wanted another one for a while.”

“Well, you ought to just talk to her,” Clara said.

Sorenson hissed as Clara changed the bandage on the worst of the wounds, a very deep one on the side of his chest.

“Sorry, baby,” Clara said, “That’s the third-degree burn.”

Sorenson gritted his teeth until she had finished then he exhaled, “She’s right, Percy. If you just talk to Susan, she might change her mind. By the way, did you say babies? As in you want more than one?”

“Two, quite close together so I don’t have to take too much time off of work,” Clara said matter of factly.

“Ravenclaws man,” Sorenson said, shaking his head at Percy, “They’ve got their whole life planned out.”

“Try being married to a Hufflepuff,” Percy said with an amused smile, “They don’t have a plan, they just go where the bloody wind takes them.”

Clara chuckled, “I’ll leave you guys to it. Lil will be in to check up on you at 6 pm. Don’t shout at her this time and take your medication for Lucille at 9 pm, or else!”

Sorenson rolled his eyes as his wife left the room, “Staying in the ward your wife runs is not fun.”

Percy chuckled, “Anyway, I just came to apologise for what happened.”

“Apologise?” Sorenson scoffed, “Percy, what are you apologising for? You prat.”

Percy snorted, “It’s been a while since I’ve been called that.”

“Seriously, if you hadn’t shielded against that curse the full force of it would have hit both of us. We’d both have died in a fiery explosion, and neither of our kids would have Dads. As it is, my kid just has a slightly sore one.”

Percy smiled weakly, “So we’re good?”

“We’re good. Thanks for saving my life, mate,” Sorenson said, patting the redhaired man on the shoulder.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	16. Take Me Home, Country Roads

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:  
> Take Me Home, Country Roads by John Denver.

When John ushered Harry and Rob into the kitchen of his and Elizabeth’s lovely thatched cottage in Somerset, he set down four beers and said, “Can I just start off by saying, thanks for coming over for drinks, guys. This is a completely informal occasion because Harry is on suspension and has _no_ idea that he will be getting promoted to Assistant Head Auror when he comes back.”

Rob snorted and picked up his beer, “Thanks for having us over for drinks Shep like you do….oh yeah, never.”

John shot his best friend an amused look and flicked open a folder, “I have no idea what to do with the department.”

“Because everyone is leaving,” Elizabeth added, sitting down next to him.

“Right, we’ll get to that,” Rob said, “But there’s a more important question. What house did Grayson get sorted into?”

“He’s in Gryffindor with Oscar,” Elizabeth said with a smile, “So they are both quite happy.”

“Of course he’s in Gryffindor, he’s you through and through,” Rob said to John.

John grinned proudly, “Thanks, mate.”

“It’s scary how soon that’s gonna be us,” Harry said with a shake of his head as he sipped his beer, “Seeing Nick and Teddy off at the platform.”

“Don’t remind me,” Rob said with a shake of his head.

“Right, what the fuck do I do with this department?” John asked, staring at a list of Aurors.

Harry made a few copies of the list and handed them out. He pulled a pen out of his pocket and looked down, “Do all of the departments need six Aurors or could the quieter ones have four?”

“I was about to say just that,” Rob admitted.

“Partnerless Aurors need to be dealt with first,” John said, looking down at his list.

“Right, Neville is going to be off for at least six months, and Theo isn’t going to pass any psyche tests for a long time yet,” Harry said, “So give me Draco and give us homicide, please.”

“Yeah, you were getting him and that department already anyway,” John said with an amused smile, “But Jason doesn’t have a partner because I threw Lux out-”

“You threw Lux out?” Rob asked in surprise.

“Yeah,” John remarked casually, “She came into my office spewing some abusive shit about werewolves and asking for a transfer, so I transferred her to the magical law enforcement patrol squad.”

Rob actually smiled, rather than smirked or grinned, “Thanks Shep.”

“Drink your beer, don’t get homoerotic on us,” Elizabeth ordered.

Harry snorted into his beer.

Rob rolled his eyes, “Who else is partnerless?”

“Blaine Zabini…”

“That’s temporary though,” Harry said, “I’ve spoken to Sorenson, and he’s coming back. I do wonder if we should change his partner, though. He and Percy worked well together on that raid, and I feel like Percy is wasted in Missing Persons.”

John nodded, “I think you’re right.”

“I also think you should promote Blanche and Ophelia to Senior Aurors,” Harry added, “They are the only people who were on that raid, apart from Neville, who aren’t Seniors yet and they fought just as well as all of the Seniors did, better than some actually.”

“Neither of them came out with a scratch on them,” Rob agreed.

John nodded, “Right…so Potter and Black have got Homicide. We need to work out what we’re doing with Vice. Mitch is retiring to the training centre because Sam is pregnant. He’ll be announcing that soon I think.”

“Good for him,” Rob said, “Leaves Oliver without a partner though doesn’t it?”

“Give him Aiden,” Elizabeth said, “He was your partner, and you won’t be doing fieldwork now that you’re the Head Auror.”

“More to the point, if I _do_ need to do fieldwork I’ll have Rob as my partner,” John said, jotting this down, “Aiden would be a good fit in Vice, he could teach Oliver a thing or two.”

“Are you going to let Sorenson keep Organised Crime?” Harry asked.

“I think you should,” Rob said.

“It would be a good promotion for Percy if you let him lead it with Sorenson,” Harry said, “But it does kind of demote Blaine, doesn’t it?”

“Blaine won’t mind,” Elizabeth said, “His record isn’t great. He’s had a lot of sick days and time off lately. You have to remember that he has three very young children. Corbyn is around the same age as your daughter, Andrea and his wife just had twins last month.”

John nodded, “He hasn’t been on the ball lately, you’re right. I’ll have a chat with him about it, but I think he will agree to a slight demotion.”

They were all silent as they looked at the lists for a moment. John spoke up again first, “CPS stays the same, my wife and my best friend are far too good a team to break up.”

“That’s right up there with ‘I’ll cry on you’ as far as weird sentences go,” Rob remarked.

Harry sniggered, and John shook his head, “I’m not even going to ask.”

Elizabeth smiled, “Arson should stay the same. Lucas and Robert are a brilliant team.”

John nodded and looked down at the list, “So if we’re making Blanche and Ophelia Seniors, do you reckon we should start them off in Fraud?”

“I think that’s a sensible idea,” Elizabeth said with a nod.

“What about Missing Persons?” John mused.

“Move Roger and Tam to Missing Persons,” Harry said.

“And give Alec Stone a good redundancy package, he’s past it,” Rob remarked.

“I don’t like the insensitive way you worded that, but you are right Rob,” Elizabeth admitted.

“Right,” John said, “We need to operate in pairs so teams can’t have odd numbers. Looking at the maths, we can have four teams of four and three teams of six though.”

“Give the bigger, busier departments six,” Harry said.

Rob nodded, “Use the quieter departments as training grounds. Have two Seniors to two Juniors in Fraud, Missing Persons and Arson.”

“Can Arson run on four?” Harry queried.

“If we bring in flexi-working and assign people from other departments arson duty a couple of nights a week then yes, it can,” John answered without looking up from his notes.

“CPS can run on four,” Rob said, looking up at Elizabeth, “Can’t we?”

Elizabeth leant back against the counter as she thought about this, “During the day, definitely. The only thing I’m not sure about is how we will work the nightshift out with you being unable to work nights.”

“Yeah, you’re too busy howling at the moon these days,” Harry joked.

John snorted, “Mitch will cover it. He’ll be on call on your nights, Rob.”

“Yes, we can work with four then,” Elizabeth agreed, “And we are a quiet department, so it’s a good training ground.”

“In that case,” John said, “You two, Dennis Creevey and Romilda Vane. That’s your department for now.”

He put one sheet of paper under the folder, “One department down, six to go.”

“Give Jason his big shot,” Rob said, “Put him in Homicide.”

“With who?” John asked, “It would mean breaking up a partnership.”

“Terrence Higgs,” Harry said.

“Higgs?” John asked in surprise, “You want to pull him out of Fraud and put him in Homicide?”

“He’s a Slytherin, so he will work well Jason,” Harry said, “If Draco and I are in charge, then our seconds in commands should have a similar dynamic to us. What juniors are we getting?”

“I was planning on giving you Abercrombie and Cauldwell,” John admitted, “They weren’t the best in their year, but they showed the most humanity in their morality tests and I like that in the Homicide department.”

“Done,” Harry said, jotting all of the names down, “That’s my department done. What’s next, Vice?”

John nodded, “So Aiden and Oliver are in charge. I was planning on putting Benedict Smith and Stewart Ackerley in there. They are both smart; they _were_ best in their year.”

“And it’s a Slytherin-Ravenclaw partnership,” Harry said with a nod, “I can tell you, my Slytherin wife has a Ravenclaw best friend, and it works.”

“Yeah we’ve heard all about how it works, Harry,” Rob said, waggling his eyebrows at the younger man.

“Shut up, Wolfie,” Harry snorted.

“Take Gibson and Miller out of Arson and put them in Vice,” Elizabeth said, “They will fit in well. They are both brash, headstrong Gryffindors.”

“Done,” John said, “Organised Crime is getting Sorenson and Percy. If Blaine agrees to step down, we’ll partner him up with Ritchie Coote.”

“Emma needs a new partner too, with Lucia being dishonourably discharged,” Elizabeth said.

“I thought she would work well with Andy Kirke,” Harry mused, “I know it’s a male-female partnership which we don’t tend to do but look at Draco and Theo; they were both guys, and they were emotionally involved. It’s kind of sexist to assume people’s sexuality based on their gender and only partner them with people of the same sex.”

“Ooh, aren’t you using big words?” Rob snorted.

“He has a point though,” Elizabeth said, “We shouldn’t be making assumptions about anyone’s sexuality, and Kirke would be a good mentor for Dobbs.”

“Since we’re on the subject of equality,” John cut in, “How do we feel about Fraud being an all-female team? If we give the department to Blanche and Ophelia, that will leave them with two juniors, Madley and McDonald.”

“I think that works,” Elizabeth said.

“And I’m a feminist, so I’m down with that,” Harry said.

“You’re a guy; you can’t be a feminist,” Rob snorted.

“Yes, I can. I think everyone should be equal regardless of their race, sexuality, gender, blood status. We’re all human, aren’t we?”

Rob shrugged, “I’m not.”

“Yes, you are,” John said, “For one night a month, you become someone else but every other day – you are still Rob Wolfe, and I respect the hell out of the amount of humanity Rob Wolfe has. You hear me?”

Rob smiled back at his friend, a little tearfully.

Harry caught Elizabeth’s eye over Rob’s shoulder. She just shook her head and drank her beer.

Rob cleared his throat, “Anyway. Those changes would leave Lucas and Robert in Arson with Vic and Trav, do you reckon that will work?”

John nodded, “And I’m going to promote Vic and Trav up from Junior to Auror.”

“So Missing Persons…” Elizabeth said, looking down at Johns list, “Led by Roger and Tam with two juniors under their wing…Ivy Montgomery and Graham Pritchard?”

John nodded and flipped the folder shut, “Done. I am going to have a word with Ivy and make sure she doesn’t share her sister's ridiculous views on werewolves though.”

“Not the worst idea in the world,” Harry admitted.

“Thank Merlin that’s over,” John said, downing what was left of his beer in one.

* * *

“You ready?”

“To get pushed along by my best mate like a cripple?” Neville asked miserably.

He was sitting on the edge of his hospital bed in his formal Auror uniform looking disdainfully at the wheelchair in front of Harry.

“You wanted to be there,” Harry said, “This is the deal. You can come to the funeral if you stay in the chair.”

“Is Theo going to be in a wheelchair?” Neville asked.

“No, he’s going to use a cane,” Harry answered.

“So why can’t I use a cane?” Neville questioned.

“Because Theo didn’t sever his fucking spinal cord last week!” Harry snapped, “He’s been severely malnourished. That’s a damn sight easier to fix than the thing that relays every message from your brain to your legs. You shouldn’t be able to walk at all, and if you try to be an idiot and push it when you're not ready, you might not ever be able to walk again!”

Neville looked sufficiently told off.

“You want to be able to run around the garden after those kids, don’t you?” Harry said, his tone a little softer now.

“Yeah, I really do,” Neville said, swallowing hard.

“So do what the Healers and your wife are telling you now,” Harry said simply, “You know if Lilly thought they were being overly cautious, she’d tell you but she agrees. You are not ready to walk or stand for long periods of time yet so get in the goddamn chair.”

Neville swallowed again and got to his feet. His legs wobbled, and Harry stepped forward to steady him, but this time Neville didn’t need it. He caught himself on the edge of the bed and took four tentative steps. Then he lowered himself, with some difficulty, into the chair.

“There you go, you got into the wheelchair by yourself, you stubborn idiot,” Harry remarked with a pointed look at his best friend, “Happy now?”

“Yeah, I am,” Neville replied just as stubbornly.

“Idiot.”

“Pain in the arse.”

* * *

“Sure you’re ready for this?” Draco asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Theo said, “I’ve got my cane in case I have a lightheaded spell. I feel like your dad, and I fucking hate it, but if this is what it takes to get myself to the funeral, I’ll deal with it.”

Draco cast his gaze over Theo, “I meant mentally, Theo,” he said softly, “Being at a funeral…Is it going to make you….”

“Flashback to my funeral?” Theo asked bitterly, “Remember that my whole family thought I was dead?”

“Theo-”

“I _know_ you’re sorry but sometimes sorry isn’t enough,” Theo said.

Draco swallowed. Those words and this entire situation made _him_ flashback to the last time he and Theo had been on the rocks like this. It had been a long time ago…at Pansy’s funeral.

Theo had walked out on Draco, and he honestly wondered if they would have gotten their friendship back without their eighth year at school.

Draco didn’t know what to say to that. He had no words.

“Would you let me side-apparate you there?” Draco asked simply.

“Yeah,” Theo said, “Yeah, sure.”

* * *

The funeral was much bigger and grander than Theo’s had been. Jack Sumner was not just any Auror; he had been the Head Auror and a damn well respected one too.

The six pallbearers who had been chosen were John, Rob, Cameron, Evan, Harry and Draco. They levitated the coffin onto the back of a horse and cart, and the funeral procession began.

Jack was being buried in the graveyard behind his family home. All muggle residents have been cleared from the area for the day under the impression that there had been a gas explosion.

As such, the march along the empty main road was a very eery one indeed. It was early in the morning, and the mist hadn’t burnt away yet. A full band played ‘Amazing Grace’, and every serving Auror marched in front of the coffin as a kind of guard of honour. Harry pushed Neville and Draco supported Theo with one arm while he used his cane with the other.

When they got to the graveyard, Harry took a breath and left Blanche with Neville. He then stood next to John at the front.

There were hundreds of Aurors here. Any Auror that Jack had trained or worked with, whether they were retired, serving or working at the training centre; they were all here to show their respect for the great man.

Harry looked over at Jack’s daughter, Caroline, who had tears rolling down her cheeks. She held the hand of a little girl with fiery red hair and blue eyes who looked around the same age as Teddy. Harry guessed that she must have been Edith, Jack’s granddaughter.

“Why is Kingsley’s wife with Caroline?” Harry whispered to John.

John turned to Harry in surprise, “She’s her mother.”

Harry frowned, “What?”

“I didn’t realise that you didn’t know,” John said, still in a whisper, “Jack married his first wife, Maggie, straight out of Hogwarts. Caroline was born when they were both 18. He went through Auror training with your dad as his partner, but after your dad died, he was paired up with Kingsley.”

Harry’s eyes widened, Sumner had made enough offhand comments about his first wife leaving him for his best friend to understand where this was going.

“And Maggie left him for Kingsley,” John said, “That’s Kiera and Piper, Caroline’s half-sisters.”

“I didn’t know that,” Harry whispered.

“It was quite the scandal at the time,” John murmured, “He would have been glad that it wasn’t well known by the time you started training.”

Harry just nodded. A minister said some words as they had at Theo’s funeral, then it was time for John’s eulogy.

It was clear that John felt very emotional. He had to pause and take a breath before he could begin to speak.

“We are gathered here today to mourn the death and celebrate the life of Jack Sumner,” John began, “He was only Head Auror for five short years, but he was the kind of person who spoke, and people listened.”

Harry nodded his agreement, keeping his eyes down.

“Jack loved people,” John continued, “He always said that it was _people_ who made great Aurors. He believed that it didn’t matter how much knowledge we put in their head, how much we trained them, they were either born to be great Aurors, or they weren’t. We couldn’t change their nature; we could just hone what was already there.”

John cleared his throat and looked out at the crowd of Aurors, “Everyone who knew Jack knew that he always had time for you. It didn’t matter if he was about to head home, if you came into his office to talk, he would make time for you. You knew that he cared for you and that he cared about your welfare.”

The sea of Aurors nodded in agreement.

“But as much as leadership was something he excelled at, I think we can all agree that training was his passion,” John continued, “He loved it and he was a natural at it. Jack trained so many of the serving Aurors that stand before me. Those Aurors are some of the best that I know because Jack knew how to bring out the best in a person.”

Harry looked over at the Aurors _he_ had trained with. Draco and Neville were nodding solemnly, and Theo looked a little tearful. Blanche stood stoically behind Neville, and next to her, Ophelia was openly crying.

“Those of you were trained by Jack will know that the tougher he was on you, the more he cared,” John said, his voice cracked at this point, so he took a breath and looked out at Elizabeth. Like Ophelia, she wasn’t even trying to hide her tears as she stood next to Rob. Even he had a tear in his eye.

“Jack never feared death,” John said with a note of finality, “He always said that death was just the beginning. So I pray that he is right and that he is watching over us. All of us who knew Jack know how deeply he loved his second wife, Cara, who was taken from us far too soon. In death, may they meet again.”

He took a step back, and every single Auror saluted.

Harry swallowed a lump in his throat and walked towards the coffin with the other pallbearers. Together they folded up the British flag that lay atop the coffin. Harry placed it into John’s arms, and Rob placed Jack’s badge atop it – Head Auror, with distinction.

John walked over to Caroline and held out the flag. Maggie took Edith’s hand as tears rolled down Caroline’s cheeks.

John was struggling to hold his tears back as he said, “On behalf of the British Ministry of Magic and the people of a grateful nation, may I present this flag and this badge as a token of appreciation for the honourable and faithful service that Jack Sumner rendered this nation.”

Caroline took the flag wordlessly, and John stepped back. He raised his wand and pointed it up at the sky. Every other Auror in the graveyard did the same.

A trumpet sounded, and there was a great cry of, “Expecto Patronum!”

Hundreds of animals flew upwards. John’s german shepherd led the way, with Harry’s stag, Rob’s wolf, Cameron’s bear, Evan’s terrier and Draco’s otter following it.

The patroni all merged to form a great silver ball in the sky - a gigantic silver sun. It expanded for a few seconds then exploded silently. As silver sparks rained down from the sky, everyone kept their gaze down for one minute while they honoured Jack’s service and ultimate sacrifice.

When the minute's silence ended, the coffin began to be lowered into the ground, and it felt too quiet. There was no music, just the sound of sniffling and shaky breathing. Harry looked up with tears in his eyes and decided that it wasn’t what Sumner would have wanted. He wouldn’t have wanted an entire graveyard of Aurors standing silently and solemnly. He would have wanted them to come together.

So Harry did something spontaneous, and he hoped against hope that it was the right thing. He began to sing, “ _Almost heaven, West Virginia_.”

John laughed tearfully and joined in. Rob shot Harry a proud smile and sang with them, “ _Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River.”_

The older Aurors who had worked with Jack for the longest cottoned on first and began to join in, “ _Life is old there, older than the trees. Younger than the mountains, growing like a breeze.”_

The man playing the bagpipes even teared up and put some music to the tune.

“ _Country roads, take me home_ ,” Harry sang as tears burned in his eyes, “ _To the place, I belong.”_

Caroline sang along softly, gripping Edith’s hand tightly, “ _West Virginia, mountain mama, take me home, country roads.”_

The coffin was entirely in the ground now, and almost every single Auror in the graveyard was singing the song with conviction.

Harry raised his voice, “ _Country roads take me home,”_ he looked over at Neville and gave him a knowing nod. Neville nodded back, tearfully.

_“To the place, I belong. West Virginia_ ,” Harry looked over at Rob, _his_ mentor and bowed his head. Rob nodded back and gave Harry a weak smile, “ _Mountain mama. Take me home, country roads.”_

Rob held the last note for longer than anyone else, and when the man playing the bagpipes stopped, there was not a dry eye in that graveyard.

“Rest in peace, sir,” Harry said quietly, more for his own closure than for anyone else.

* * *

“I’m scared of dying.”

Neville looked up at Harry as they walked through the graveyard together, “I think everyone is.”

“No,” Harry shook his head and stopped by a bench. He sat down, so he was on the same level as his best friend then he looked Neville in the eye, “You don’t understand, Nev. For the first time in my life, I’m scared of dying.”

Neville watched Harry silently.

“I always viewed death as the next step,” Harry confessed, “The natural order of things, you know? And when I was at school, I just assumed it was how my story would end. I couldn’t visualise a world in which I survived past the war, so death never scared me. I had accepted that it was a fact of life, and I knew that I would see my parents again when death came for me.”

Neville placed his hand on top of Harry’s as tears fell unwittingly from his eyes.

“But now…dying _terrifies_ me,” Harry confessed, “Because I have so much to lose. I don’t want to miss the big moments in my kids' life. I want to be at every Quidditch game. I want to be there every birthday and every Christmas. I want to walk my daughters down the aisle and remind my sons to breathe on their wedding days.”

Harry took a breath, “I want to be with Daphne until the very end, and I want to be the best godfather I can be to _your_ kids. I am terrified of what I will leave behind if I die, Neville.”

Neville smiled softly, “You’re not scared of dying. You’re scared of leaving the people you love without you.”

“My job is dangerous, Nev,” Harry said quietly, “Just look at what happened to you.”

“I was never in danger of dying, was I?” Neville reminded him, “But you saved me from being paralysed. You are a brilliant Auror, Harry. You are one of the best.”

“Even the best die sometimes,” Harry reminded his best friend, “Look at what happened to my dad, and your parents. I just… is it selfish of me to carry on being an Auror?”

“No,” Neville replied honestly, “It isn’t. You are keeping the world safe. When you go to work, you keep your children, your wife, me, Lilly, _all of us,_ safe. There is nothing selfish about that.”

Harry looked his best friend in the eye, “I just don’t know how safe I’m going to feel without you to have my back, Neville.”

Neville’s eyes softened, “I’ll always have your back, Harry. Regardless of whether you are my Auror partner or not. You hear me?”

Harry nodded. He cleared his throat and wiped his eyes hastily, “Yeah, I hear you.”

* * *

“You look lost.”

Draco swallowed and turned around, “It will just be me.”

Hermione smiled sadly at him, “For one week, love. Then Harry will be back.”

Draco leant against the kitchen counter, “Five years, Hermione. That’s how long I’ve been an Auror, and there has never been a day when I have had to walk into that department on my own.”

“Five years ago, I can understand why that might have scared you,” Hermione said softly, “But Harry, Neville and Theo are not your only friends in the department anymore. Lots of Aurors like you and respect you. I am sure that you can get through one week on your own.”

Draco nodded and kissed her lightly. She could see the trepidation in his eyes, but she didn’t push the issue any further as she bade him a good day. These little moments of self-doubt were becoming far more regular now that he no longer had Theo by his side.

As it was, his day wasn’t too bad. When he walked into the department he was immediately bombarded with questions about Theo like ‘How is he alive?’ and ‘How is he doing?’ and ‘Is he going to come back?’

By the time Draco had fought his way through to the Assistant Head Aurors office, he was ten minutes late.

“Made it through the sea then,” Cameron said when he looked up.

Draco smiled weakly, “Yeah, are you the acting Assistant Head until Harry comes back then Mitch?”

“I am, and you’re not supposed to know about that,” Cameron said with an amused smile, “You missed my announcement on Friday. I’ll be retiring to the training centre in the next couple of weeks, Sam’s pregnant.”

Draco smiled at that. He knew Cameron reasonably well because he and Oliver Wood had been his bosses in Vice for the past few years, “Is she? That’s brilliant news Cam, congrats.”

Cameron laughed, “Funny how you lot only ever call me Cam when it’s big news.”

Draco chuckled, “What position are you taking up at the training centre then?”

“Head,” Cameron said with a proud smile, “Sams done it for a few years but she’ll be taking time off when the baby is born, so she’s stepping down. I’ll be head of the centre, and Evan will be my assistant.”

“Congratulations again,” Draco said, and he genuinely meant that.

Cameron thanked him once more, and Draco knocked on the door to Johns office then stepped inside, “Morning, sir.”

“Morning, Draco,” John replied as he threw a bit of parchment into the fire, “I presume you’re here to find out who you’re going to be working with?”

“Yes, sir,” Draco replied.

“For the moment, it’s Aiden Ford,” John answered, looking up at Draco, “He’ll train you up in the basics of Homicide then when Harry comes back, you’re partnering up with him.”

“At Homicide?” Draco asked eagerly; it was the department he had always wanted to work in.

“Yep,” John replied, throwing more paper into the fire, “You’ll be running Homicide, actually.”

Draco’s eyes lit up, “Thank you, sir.”

“Yeah, yeah,” John waved his hand, “Report to Ford. He’ll show you the ropes this week.”

Draco wasn’t stupid; he could tell that John was busy and he was, therefore, being dismissed. He thanked his boss again and headed into the Homicide bullpen where Aiden Ford and two people Draco didn’t recognise, were waiting for him.

“Ford,” Draco said with a nod.

“Black,” Aiden greeted with a nod and a smile, “Juniors, meet Senior Auror Draco Black. He’s going to be your boss long-term, I’m just here this week until his partner gets back from his suspension.”

Draco cast his gaze over the newbies, “Introductions then you two?”

“Euan Abercrombie, sir,” One of the boys said. He had shoulder-length auburn hair and dark grey eyes, “I was in Gryffindor at school, and I was Head Boy and Quidditch captain.”

“Titles mean nothing here,” Aiden warned him, “And we don’t like suck-ups. Tell us something personal.”

Euan frowned, “Well, I love Quidditch.”

Draco rolled his eyes and looked at the other boy, “Are you more interesting?”

The boy, who had dark blond hair, smirked and said, “I didn’t think it mattered if I was interesting or not, I thought it was about how good we are at being an Auror.”

Aiden grinned, “I like this one. What’s your name?”

“Owen Cauldwell, sir,” The boy answered.

“Course he’s sassy, he’s related to Sadie,” Draco retorted in amusement, “You’re her cousin, aren’t you?”

Owen nodded, “Yep. My dad married a muggle, and my Uncle Septimus didn’t cast him out but disapproved, so they moved to the muggle world, and they don’t speak. I only found out that Sadie was my cousin when she asked me how I was doing in school.”

Draco narrowed his eyes at him, “Hufflepuff?”

“Yep,” Owen said, “So yeah, I’m loyal but only to the people who have earned my loyalty.”

“Interesting,” Draco said with a nod, “Right then. Aiden, can I assume that our first case is the murder of Jack Sumner?”

Aiden nodded and flipped the board around, “Listen up, newbies. This is a big case and an unusual one because we already know who the murderer is, we just need to catch her…”

* * *

Being a house husband for a week was Harry’s idea of heaven. Daphne thought he was crazy, but he didn’t see as much of his kids as he would like to because of the nature of his job. He and Daphne had spent the first week of his suspension looking after the kids together or spelling each other out to visit Neville in the hospital.

This week, Daphne had asked Harry if he minded watching the kids for a while so that she could go and help Bill with a difficult case.

Harry had gotten into the rhythm of it quickly enough. He got up in the morning, fed and dressed his three kids under three (he really was a sucker for punishment), and yelled at Teddy to hurry up and get dressed. Then he put them all in the car. That was the one thing that Harry would miss when they moved Potter Manor to the Lake District. Bill had gotten Daphne into cars, so Harry had taken an interest too. They had three cars, one each and a family car. The family car was a landrover defender, and Harry bloody loved that thing. He would miss being able to drive Teddy to school in it.

An hour later, after some loud rock music, Teddy was at school and Alastor, Andrea and Thea were all sleeping in their car seats. By the time he got home, it was mid-morning, so he put them all in the garden, sat down with a cup of coffee and rocked Thea in her little bouncy chair. He could get used to this, and it was only Tuesday so he would happily let Daphne work with Bill all week if she wanted to.

Harry rolled his eyes when a silver otter flew over and landed gracefully before him.

_“Hey, hows the suspension going?”_

“Great,” Harry replied honestly, “I’m actually getting to see my kids. What’s up?”

_“I’m working the Lucia case with Ford until you get back then it’s going to be our case,”_ Draco’s voice said, “ _And I could do with some insight from you.”_

“Okay, what – Alastor, give your sister her broomstick back right now! Thank you – do you need my insight on?” Harry asked, sipping his coffee.

_“The mindset of a dark lord. You’ve had one in your head. Can you predict her next move? Theo doesn’t think this is the end. If anything, he thinks it’s the beginning.”_

“Yeah, I’d agree with him,” Harry admitted, cradling his cup of coffee as he watched his kids playing together, “I can’t compare Lucia to Voldemort though. By the time I started fighting Voldemort, he was slightly mad. He had broken his soul up so many times, you know? Lucia is anything but insane. She’s a sociopath, she’s highly logical, but she’s not a psychopath.”

_“True,”_ Draco admitted grudgingly.

“Put yourself in the mindset of a dark Hermione,” Harry said, “What would she do when she had been beaten?”

“ _She would have gone to ground,”_ Draco answered, _“She would be laying low and planning her next move.”_

“Exactly,” Harry said, “Realistically, Lucia holds all of the cards so we can’t do much until she makes her first move. All you can do is keep an eye out for people who have a similar mindset to her; people who hate purebloods.”

“ _So we do nothing? That’s your advice?”_ Draco asked in disbelief.

“Essentially, yes,” Harry replied, “We need to be ready to respond when she acts but until then, we wait. She’s smart, Theo reckons smarter than even him. We have no leads on her and wherever she is will be warded to hell and high water like that church. You don’t go into the den when you’re hunting; you wait for the prey to come out into the open.”

_“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll speak to you later.”_

“Bye,” Harry said, vanishing the Patronus away with a wave of his wand.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	17. I'm Gonna Start a Revolution

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:   
> Heroes by All Time Low.

“Checkmate.”

“Oh, fuck.”

Neville grinned, “You’re a good teacher. That’s twice today I’ve beaten you.”

“My heads not in it,” Theo admitted, “I keep going off into tangents in my head.”

“Yeah?” Neville asked, “What about?”

“Just what I’m going to do now,” Theo admitted, leaning back in his chair by Neville’s bed, “I don’t think I’ll go back to the Aurors, you know?”

Neville nodded, “I don’t think I will either. I know I can but just because I can doesn’t mean I necessarily want to…”

“Yeah, I kind of feel the same,” Theo confessed, “But I don’t know what I’ll do.”

“I think I’ll ask Minerva if I can start that job she’s been keeping on hold for me,” Neville mused, “I know it would still be a physical job, what with all of the bending over and standing up for long periods but it’s not running, duelling and twisting, you know?”

Theo nodded, “I have no idea what I want to do. I mean, Hermione was right, I _could_ do pretty much anything I want. I’m smart enough, I have the grades, but I don’t know what I _want_ to do. I kind of fell into being an Auror because of the war and Draco.”

“Yeah, I never planned on being an Auror either,” Neville admitted, “It’s kind of fitting that it happens this way, don’t you think? Harry wanted to be an Auror for years.”

“So did Draco,” Theo admitted, “Since he was a kid.”

“I know, I remember what he was like,” Neville said with an amused smile, “But you and I, we fell into it because of the war, who our best friends were, whatever you want to call it. But it wasn’t our calling the same way that it was theirs.”

“You’ve always known that Herbology was your calling,” Theo said, “But I’ve no idea what mine is.”

“You’ll work it out,” Neville said with a smile, “But while you do, I’m going to kick your arse at chess for a third time.”

A knock sounded on the door before they could start, and Sadie walked in.

Neville frowned as Theo stiffened up and put on a false smile, “Hey.”

“Hey,” Sadie said. Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes, and she looked tired, “You guys playing chess?”

“Yeah, I’ve been teaching Nev,” Theo said offhandedly.

“How did your check-up go today?”

“Good, yeah, the Healers seem quite happy,” Theo answered.

“Did they say when they were hoping to discharge you?” Sadie asked hopefully.

“Monday,” Theo said with a small nod, “Yeah, hopefully on Monday.”

“That’s great,” Sadie said, her eyes lit up, “You’ll feel so much better when you’re back home.”

“Yeah,” Theo said quietly, “I’m sure I will.”

The look that flashed through Theo’s eyes didn’t go unnoticed by Sadie or Neville.

* * *

“Babe.”

Daphne looked up, “What did you do?”

“How did you know that I did something?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“Because of your tone of voice,” Daphne said, quirking up an eyebrow, “What did you do?”

Harry sighed and sat down in front of the fire in the drawing-room, “I drank firewhiskey.”

“What?” Daphne’s head snapped up.

“I didn’t really have a choice,” Harry admitted, “It was while I was undercover. After the fight with Seamus, he poured me a firewhiskey, and I drank it while we talked. Then the raid happened, and the shit hit the fan with Neville, but not once did I think about drinking or relapsing.”

Daphne smiled proudly, “Good.”

Harry smiled back, “It is good, isn’t it? I know I didn’t need to tell you, but I felt like you ought to know.”

“I appreciate that,” Daphne said genuinely.

“I have something else to discuss with you,” Harry admitted, “It’s about moving the house, and…it’s not going to be easy.”

Daphne pouted, “Stop trying to stop me from executing my vision.”

“Your vision is expensive,” Harry snorted, “I spoke to a guy I know in the DMT a few days ago, and he owled this over today.”

Daphne took the piece of parchment from Harry’s hand and looked down at it, “What is this, a quote?”

“Uh-huh,” Harry said, “I told you it would be expensive. I mean we can afford it obviously, but I want you to know how much it’s going to cost. This had better not be a whim that you’ve had. Because if you decide in another five years that you want to move to London again-”

“It isn’t,” Daphne cut in, “But this is ridiculous. The quote to move the house is about half the value _of the house_.”

“I know,” Harry said.

“I have another idea,” Daphne said, crumpling the quote up and throwing it into the fire, “Leave it with me.”

“That’s cryptic,” Harry said, narrowing his eyes at his wife.

Daphne just shot him a smirk in response, “Don’t worry, you’ll find out soon enough if my plan works.”

* * *

When Draco got home from work and saw his mother sitting in the kitchen, he raised an eyebrow, “Mother.”

Narcissa fixed him with a cold look, “Don’t you ‘Mother’ me, Draco. Were you ever planning on telling me that Theodore was alive?”

Draco grimaced, “Mum, honestly it’s more complicated than that-”

“I do not care how complicated it is, Draco!” Narcissa snapped, “I should have found out from my son, _not my step-daughter!”_

“I hate it when you call Daphne that,” Draco muttered. He leant against the kitchen counter and surveyed his mother, “But there is a lot more to the story than you know-”

“You have a half-sister who seems to take after your father; it seems,” Narcissa said icily, “I know this because Theodore told me when I visited him in the hospital.”

“You visited him in the hospital?” Draco frowned, “He didn’t tell me about that. Then again, he doesn’t tell me anything anymore.”

Narcissa frowned at her son, “What is going on between you boys? You have always been as close as brothers.”

“Closer,” Draco said. He caught his mothers eye, “We’re closer than that, Mum. Or we were, anyway.”

He turned around with the guise of boiling the kettle, “Then that evil half-sister that he told you about put him under a nightmare curse and in his nightmare world, I was my father. I stole Sadie away from him, I got her pregnant and Theo in his rage, killed her.”

“Draco,” Narcissa said softly.

Draco turned around; tears burned in his eyes.

“You are not your father,” Narcissa assured him, “And in time, Theodore will see that too. Unfortunately, when people are hurt, they lash out and hurt others. It is the way of the world, my love.”

“And what if that’s how it stays?” Draco asked, frowning and trying to hold back his tears, “What if Theo hates me forever for something I didn’t do? I don’t know how to live without him, I’ve never _had_ to. He’s been there forever, I…I don’t remember a time when I didn’t have Theo.”

Narcissa got to her feet and took a step towards her son, “Which is why he will see how foolish it is to punish you for something you have not done. It may take time, but if you do not want to lose him, you must be patient with him.”

Draco nodded and wiped his eyes hastily.

“Trust me, Draco,” Narcissa said, meeting his eye, “I have done things under imperius curses and then had to reconcile those deeds with my own conscience. It is not an easy thing to do, to bring two worlds together as one. It took me a long time to work out what I had done as myself and what I had done as your father's pawn. In truth, Cygnus helped me past that and Theodore will need someone to help him see past it too. You must be prepared for that person not being you.”

Draco cleared his throat, “I am,” he lied.

Narcissa looked at him knowingly.

“I am,” Draco said again, a bit more firmly this time, “Do you want a cup of tea, Mother?”

Narcissa sighed because just like that his guard was back up again. When he called her ‘Mother’, she knew that there was no getting through to him.

“Yes Draco, tea would be lovely.”

* * *

Theo being in the hospital, was putting a strain on everyone, but nobody more than Sadie. Hermione was trying her best to help her best friend, but it wasn’t easy. Now that Draco had gone back to work, she was on her own with her children and still trying to get through a few legal contracts a day. Although she was on maternity leave, she was still being asked for advice daily by the useless junior lawyers in the department.

When Hermione found Sadie sitting with her head in her hands, an abandoned cup of tea next to her on the kitchen counter, she knew she had reached a breaking point.

“What’s going on?”

“I’m the worlds worst mother,” Sadie sobbed into her hands.

Hermione sighed and wrapped her arms around Sadie, “Where are the twins?”

“In their bedrooms,” Sadie said tearfully, “Almina hates me.”

“She doesn’t hate you,” Hermione said softly, “What’s brought this on?”

“I had another meeting with the school today,” Sadie said, looking up at Hermione with bloodshot eyes, “Charlus is doing well now that Theo is home, albeit in hospital. Almina still won’t talk to her teachers though, and when I asked her about it, she screamed at me then ran to her bedroom.”

Hermione bit her lip, “Why don’t I try?”

Sadie waved a hand, “Be my guest, she’s acting like a diva every time I so much as look at her right now.”

“She must be confused, Sade,” Hermione said softly, grabbing Sadie’s hand, “Her Dad was dead then he wasn’t, but he’s still in the hospital. Theo is weak; you’re sad. The whole thing must be overwhelming for a five-year-old.”

Sadie just nodded.

“I’ll talk to her, or try to at least,” Hermione said, kissing Sadie on the cheek, “Get a hot cup of tea down you, okay?”

“Okay.”

Hermione made her way upstairs to the twin's bedrooms which were adjoining. She knocked on the door to Almina’s room then stepped in.

Almina looked up from where she lay on her bed. She was a beautiful little girl; she looked so much like her mother. Her long hair was slightly curly and a few shades lighter than Sadie’s, but her deep blue eyes were the same shade as Sadie’s were.

“Hey, Mina,” Hermione said with a smile, “Your mum said you were a bit upset earlier.”

Almina huffed and looked away from Hermione.

“You can tell me why,” Hermione said, sitting down on the little girl's bed, “If it’s about your dad, we all understand why you are upset. It upsets us to see him in the hospital too. Do you want him to come home?”

Almina nodded.

“Yeah baby, we do as well,” Hermione said, smiling sadly at Almina, “We all want him to come home, and he will be home really soon, but until then, you need to talk to your mum.”

Almina frowned and looked down at her duvet.

Hermione cocked her head, “What’s going on, sweetie?”

“I don’t like school,” Almina said quietly.

“Why not?” Hermione asked.

“The other kids say horrible things,” Almina whispered, “They say my dad must be poor because he’s just a police officer. They say that their dads save people and invent things.”

“Oh honey,” Hermione breathed, “You know that’s not true, don’t you? We just have to pretend to the muggles that your dad is a police officer, but the truth is so much better than that.”

Almina frowned and looked at Hermione, “Why?”

“Because your dad and your Uncle Draco are Aurors,” Hermione said, “They are the _bravest_ people I know. They fight every day to make sure that all witches and wizards stay safe. They are so important, Mina so don’t you listen to a word of what those horrible children at school are saying.”

“They call me the peasant,” Almina said, “They’re all princesses like you.”

Hermione laughed, “I’m not a princess, sweetie. That’s just a silly nickname that your dad has for me. I don’t want to be a princess; they are soft and fragile. I don’t want to be soft or fragile; I want to be a warrior, a _fighter_. Someone who stands up for what they believe in.”

Almina cocked her head, “A fighter like Dad.”

“Just like your dad,” Hermione said with a smile, “If I had to be a princess, I would _always_ choose to be a warrior princess, so the joke is on those silly girls at your school.”

Almina smiled too, “I love you, Aunt Mione.”

Hermione hugged her goddaughter, “I love you too Mina, but I think you need to head downstairs and apologise to your mum. She really misses your dad too, and you upset her when you shouted at her earlier.”

Almina nodded; she looked sufficiently guilty as she jumped off of her bed. Hermione followed the little girl as she sprinted down the stairs, into the kitchen and hugged her mother tightly.

“Sorry for shouting, Mum.”

Sadie hugged Almina back tightly, “Thank you for saying sorry, baby. Are you feeling a little better?”

Almina nodded fiercely, “I don’t want to be a princess, I want to be a warrior princess, and I’ll fight all of those stupid girls!”

Sadie looked up at Hermione as Almina ran out of the room again. She bit her lip to try and hide her smile.

Hermione looked sheepish, “That wasn’t quite how I intended that to go…”

Sadie didn’t get angry about it though, she just burst out laughing and pressed a cup of tea into Hermione’s hands.

* * *

“I’m fucking useless.”

Neville yawned and opened his eyes. Theo had just sauntered into his hospital room, “Morning, Theo.”

Theo sat down in a chair by Neville’s bed, “I’m useless as an Auror, and I have no idea what I would be good at. I feel like my life is falling apart. I’m having a mid-life crisis.”

“Theo, you’re 25,” Neville said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and pushing himself into a sitting position.

“But I feel 50,” Theo said, and there was no jest there.

Neville looked over at his friend. They had always gotten on well because when they did split off from their best friends, it tended to be them and Harry and Draco. However, this week they had spent far more time together than they usually did. Lilly and Sadie visited them every night, and most nights Harry or Daphne came to visit Neville, and Draco or Hermione came to visit Theo. But during the day, it was just them, and it got boring.

Theo sighed, “I’ve never felt this limited, Nev.”

“You and me both, mate,” Neville admitted, “You want to go first?”

“Yeah,” Theo looked out of the window, absentmindedly, “I’ve never felt this weak. Even after the Carrows kept me in the dark tower, I wasn’t like this. I bounced back in a couple of weeks, but it’s been nearly two weeks, and I can’t bring myself to eat, I’m tired all of the time and my magic…”

“She drained it, didn’t she?” Neville asked.

“Every day for two weeks she had Seamus drain my magical core,” Theo said, “I was a muggle while I was in there. The Healers are doing what they can to restore it, but it isn’t the same. The Healers say that it can take months or years to be fully restored after something like that.”

“You can still do magic though, can’t you?”

“Barely,” Theo sighed, “Hand me your wand.”

Neville picked his wand up and handed it to Theo.

Theo’s wand hand shook as he pointed Neville’s wand at a jar on the window and said, “Flipendo!”

The jar should have smashed. Instead, it just wobbled a little.

Neville frowned, and Theo put the wand down miserably, “I feel like that helpless little kid who was desperately trying to do wandless magic to get away from his father. Only this time, it’s not my father that scares me. It’s my sister. She’s still out there, and she could come after my family, and I would be useless, there’s nothing that I can do to protect them.”

“Then there’s my head,” Theo continued, “My head is so fucked up. I’m most comfortable around you and Hermione at the moment because you weren’t in my nightmare world, so I always know that you guys are _you._ Still _,_ with the others, its harder to differentiate sometimes and I keep going round in circles in my head. I keep thinking what if _this_ is the nightmare world? Lucia said that the best way to keep a prisoner from escaping is to make sure he never knows that he’s in prison. So what if I’m still in that church and the nightmare is _thinking_ that I woke up when I never did?”

“Theo,” Neville said firmly, “You can’t think like that. _This_ is the real world. Your amazing wife got you out of that nightmare world. Your kids are here; they adore you. Hermione is worried about you, Draco loves you. This is your life.”

Theo sighed, “Most of the time I know that but sometimes…things get hazy I guess.”

“I don’t think anyone can blame for you that,” Neville pointed out.

“Anyway, it’s your turn,” Theo said, nudging his head in Neville’s direction.

“I can’t walk without being in pain, and I’m worried that will never get better,” Neville confessed, “It will fade a little I suppose, but am I going to wake up in pain every morning? With a stiff back? Am I going to limp around like a cripple? Am I going to be old before my time?”

Theo frowned as Neville sighed, “All those thoughts are flying around my head constantly. I know the Healers say I’ll get better. They say they expect me to make a full recovery within a year, but I don’t know them. I don’t know how good they are at their job, or if they are telling the truth. What if they’re wrong? What if the pain never stops? What if I can never have sex with Lilly again?”

“She’ll just go full lesbian with Daph,” Theo joked.

Neville shot Theo an irritated look, “That’s not helpful.”

“Just trying to lighten the mood,” Theo said with a snort, “But in all seriousness, _you_ can’t think like that. If you do everything the Healers say, you will make a full recovery. I know being stuck in bed is driving you crazy, but it’s a necessary evil, and you are doing better every single day.”

“You reckon?” Neville asked.

“Yeah,” Theo said genuinely, “You could barely get up from the bed to get into the wheelchair at first. Now you can go to the bathroom by yourself with ease. You can walk up and down the corridor and yeah, at first you limp but after a few minutes, you’re walking upright no bother. You need to give yourself a bit more credit Nev.”

Neville smiled at that, “Thanks, Theo.”

Theo smiled too, “Fancy a game of chess?”

“Yeah,” Neville said, “Anyway, hows Lacey doing? Did she send you another letter?”

“Oh yeah, they are pretty regular right now,” Theo said with a chuckle, “And the same name comes up in _every_ single one, Jackson.”

“Jackson Sheppard?” Neville snorted.

“Yep, he’s in her year and her house,” Theo replied, “They’ve known each other since first year.”

“Your sister is totally going to shack up with the bosses kid,” Neville sniggered.

“Oi, don’t talk about my sister shacking up with anyone, she’s only 13!” Theo objected.

“What were _you_ doing at 13?” Neville asked, “Flirting with Sadie probably.”

“Pretty much,” Theo said, a smile slipping onto his face, “Damn sight better than what you were doing at 13 though, shitting yourself at the sight of Severus Snape mostly.”

“Yeah on that subject, why the fuck was your boggart a jack-in-the-box?” Neville snorted.

“Right, that was a traumatic experience!” Theo said, “My bloody baby sister only went and popped it in my face, didn’t she? Anyway, I brought that memory to the front of my mind to trick the boggart. I didn’t want my real fear coming out in the middle of a school classroom.”

“What form does your boggart take?” Neville asked curiously.

“These days its something awful happening to Sadie and the kids,” Theo replied, “But back then it would have been my father killing my mother and if that had come out in class…”

“Yeah,” Neville sighed, “I didn’t know you could trick a boggart mind you.”

“You’ve got to be a pretty good Legilimens but yeah, you can,” Theo mused.

“How good are you at Legilimency?”

“Too good sometimes,” Theo said with a sad smile, “Draco and I have this mental link. We honed it for years, and you can’t just sever something like that, even if you want to. It does mean that I can feel everything he feels when he’s nearby. Every time he looks at me, I can feel the sympathy, I can hear him wondering if he’ll ever get the old Theo back, which really isn’t helpful.”

“Maybe you need to take your own advice, Theo. You told me to stop putting so much pressure on myself, and you’re doing great too. Most of the time you are yourself, it’s only when you get a shock or a fright that you need to re-assimilate,” Neville pointed out, “And yeah, it will take some time for you to get a grasp on what’s real, but you’re doing brilliantly so stop being so hard on yourself.”

Theo smiled, “Thanks, Nev.”

“Anytime.”

* * *

When a silver otter flew towards Harry on Thursday afternoon, he rolled his eyes.

“For the love of Godric, Draco!” Harry said in disbelief, “This is the 3rd time today! You’re so clingy, how does Theo put up with this all the time?”

_“Shut up, Pothead.”_

“Mature Malfoy, real mature.”

_“Black.”_

“You’re a prat, so it’s Malfoy,” Harry said with a roll of his eyes, “What do you want?”

_“Word on the street is that something big is going down soon.”_

“Word on the street?” Harry scoffed, “Have you been talking to hookers again? Because they don’t actually know anything, you do realise that right?”

_“They do. They find out a lot of things from their clients.”_

“Dad, what’s a hooker?” Teddy asked.

Harry jumped, “Teddy! I thought you were upstairs doing homework.”

“I came down for juice,” Teddy shrugged, “So what’s a hooker?”

“I’ll tell you when you’re older,” Harry muttered, “Go get that homework finished son.”

“Okay, Dad.”

Teddy thundered up the stairs, and Harry glared at Draco’s Patronus, “See what you’ve done now? You great big bloody prat.”

_“I’ll tell you when you're older?”_

“Shut up,” Harry retorted, “Listen, we worked in CPS together for long enough Draco. I would have thought you would know by now, the place to go for information is the Closes. Those people do hear everything that is said on Diagon Alley. People like Lucia aren’t going to be stupid enough to talk in Knockturn because they will know that the hookers are listening to their every word.”

_“I’m a shit Auror.”_

“No, you’re just a bit clingy at the moment,” Harry said, stifling a yawn.

_“I don’t think I can do it without Theo.”_

“Draco,” Harry sighed, “It’s not like he broke up with you. He’s in hospital; you could go to him for advice whenever you want.”

_“He basically did break up with me,”_ Draco said bitterly, _“He said sorry isn’t always good enough. The last time he said that to me was at Pansy’s funeral and we nearly didn’t find our way back from that.”_

“But you did manage to in the end,” Harry pointed out, “And you were younger and more immature back then. His head is all over the place right now; you need to give him time to settle.”

“ _I know, that’s why I’m bugging you with Patronuses instead.”_

“Great,” Harry muttered, “Anyway, my advice is if the hookers think something is happening, go and chat to Rob. The two of you can talk to some of our informants in The Closes together to see what they know.”

_“Right, thanks, Harry.”_

“Don’t sweat it, and Draco?”

_“Yeah?”_

“Have more faith in yourself,” Harry said, “I know you think you can’t do it without Theo because he was the logical one who came up with the inventive plans and was five steps ahead of you, but you haven’t worked with me in a long time. You’ve had Theo, and I’ve had Nev. In my old Auror partnership, _I was_ the one with the big plans who thought five steps ahead. We’re going to be fine, okay? You’ll fill the gap that Neville left for me, and I’ll fill the gap that Theo left for you. It might take a couple of weeks for us to fall into a rhythm that works for both of us, but we will, and we’re going to be a brilliant team. Trust me.”

_“I do, but did you have to make that sound so sexual?”_

“Sorry,” Harry grinned.

_“Stop grinning.”_

“How did you know I was grinning? You can’t see me!”

_“I could hear it in your voice, stupid,”_ Draco remarked, “ _If you ever talk about us finding our rhythm again, I’ll curse the fuck out of you.”_

“Yeah, can we just agree never to discuss this conversation again?”

“ _Deal. Thanks, Harry.”_

“Bye Draco,” Harry said, shaking his head in amusement as the otter disappeared into thin air.

* * *

“Harry?”

“Daphne?”

“Care to tell me why our eldest son asked me what a hooker was tonight?” Daphne asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Harry grimaced, “I have no idea…”

“No?” Daphne mused, “That’s interesting because the kind of people who would talk about hookers are people who use them as informants. People like Aurors, but you’re suspended so you wouldn’t know anything about that.”

Harry shot her an amused look. “No, I wouldn’t. Would I?”

Daphne raised her eyebrows, “Try again.”

“It was Draco’s fault?”

“He’s not even your Auror partner yet, and you’re already slinging the blame his way?” She retorted.

“He deserves it,” Harry shrugged.

“I’m sure he does, but why?” Daphne asked matter of factly.

“He keeps sending me patronuses for advice, it’s really annoying actually,” Harry said with a roll of his eyes, “I thought Teddy was upstairs, but he had come down for a drink, and he heard us talking about hookers not being reliable informants.”

“Well, thanks to you and Draco, I have had to try and explain what a hooker is to a seven-year-old,” Daphne remarked with a roll of her eyes.

“What did you tell him?” Harry asked, trying not to snigger.

“That it is a rude name for an independent lady who works in an unreputable place,” Daphne said, shaking her head, “Hopefully there are enough big words that he doesn’t understand in there to throw him off the scent.”

Harry chuckled but bit back his comment about how he very much doubted that given how bright Teddy was for his age.

* * *

Harry stayed up relatively late on Friday night which turned out to be a good thing because, just before midnight, he received a Patronus and it wasn’t from Draco this time.

The large german shepherd bounded through the window then said in John’s voice, _“Your suspension has been lifted early. Meet Draco in front of the CPS building. We have a body, and we think it might have something to do with Lucia.”_

Harry wasted no time in scribbling a note for Daphne, changing into his uniform and apparating to Diagon Alley. He strode over to Draco and asked, “Where and who?”

“Graham Montague,” Draco replied as they began to walk down the alley together, “Knockturn Alley. It was called in by a hooker who found his body.”

“How was he killed? With the killing curse?” Harry queried.

“No, wait till you see,” Draco said. They stepped into Knockturn Alley together and followed it down to the area that had been destroyed by the fire and the explosion.

Harry frowned when he looked at the body of Graham Montague, “That is the _exact_ spot where Theo ‘died’. Isn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s how we knew it was her,” Draco answered, “She’s sending us a message.”

Harry cocked his head as he looked down at the body.

“We don’t know how he died,” Draco said, “I don’t think we will until the Medical Examiner has had a good look, but Shep wanted you to see him in situ before we moved him to the morgue.”

Harry nodded and walked around the body, “He was shot.”

“With a piercing charm, you mean?” Draco asked, looking down, “Because surely it would look cleaner if that was how he had died.”

“It would,” Harry agreed. Graham’s feet were bound together, and his hands were bound behind his back. He was slumped over, but it was clear that he had been on his knees when he was killed. The wound on the back of his head was large; the blood spatter huge.

“He was shot with a gun.”

“What?” Draco barked, “A gun? But…why would someone use a gun when they could use magic?”

“Because we can trace every spell a wand has done,” Harry said pointedly, “If she uses a gun and then uses a banishment charm on it, we’ll never find the murder weapon, and therefore, we can’t tie her to the murder. Theo was right; she’s smart.”

“Why Montague?” Draco asked.

“Why not? He’s a pureblood and an easy target,” Harry said darkly.

Draco noticed, “What’s that look for? What has Montague done to you?”

Harry laughed bitterly, “If only you knew.”

“You need to tell me,” Draco said in an undertone, “We’re partners now, that means we don’t lie to each other.”

Harry looked at the dead man, “He’s a scumbag, and I don’t want to say that he deserved to die but…”

Draco frowned, “What did he do?”

“He raped a girl in the Closes,” Harry whispered, “That girl fell pregnant, talked her sister through how to birth her own child and then abandoned him on the steps of CPS on a cold Halloween.”

Draco’s eyes widened, “Shit.”

“Yeah,” Harry said, “So forgive me if I look at this piece of shit and don’t feel a shred of sadness.”

“I don’t blame you, fucking bastard,” Draco spat as he looked down at the corpse of Graham Montague.

“I feel uneasy for agreeing with her actions, if not her motives,” Harry said with a sigh.

“I’d hate the guy too if I was you, don’t overthink it,” Draco said quietly, “It makes sense that she started with Montague. He’s the last of his line, isn’t he?”

Harry nodded, “Yeah, because Al is a Potter regardless of the man who created him and I doubt that Lucia knows about the connection, I don’t even think Montague knew. If Lucia is looking at wiping out pureblood families, she’ll start with the easy ones.”

Draco nodded, “I found this on his body, by the way.”

Harry looked at the piece of paper in Draco’s hands. It was a small scrap of parchment with words written in perfectly neat, curled writing.

_The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel it’s warmth._

“It’s an African proverb,” Harry said.

“And a warning,” Draco added darkly.

Harry nodded in agreement, “What’s with the writing on the wall?”

Draco looked up and shook his head, “I have no idea. It made no sense to me.”

The words, _“All men are created equal”_ had been written on the charred wall that Montague had been executed against. The writing was fiery as it hovered there.

“I don’t know either,” Harry admitted. He looked at the four members of the magical law enforcement squad that were guarding the crime scene, “Two of you, take him to the morgue and tell Justin that he needs to get me answers fast on this one. The other two, stay here and make sure that nobody contaminates the crime scene.”

“Yes, sir.”

Harry and Draco turned around and walked back up the alley, “It’s definitely her,” Harry said in a whisper.

“And it’s definitely a message,” Draco added darkly, “This is just the beginning, and everyone on the Wizengamot is a target.”

“And their families,” Harry said, catching Draco’s eye, “ _Our_ families.”

Draco swallowed, “We need to get our heads together and try to work out who she’s going to target first.”

“You know who the best person to ask about that is, don’t you?” Harry asked him in an undertone.

“Theo,” Draco mumbled, “Let’s see what we can unearth tonight and go into St. Mungo’s to get his opinion first thing tomorrow.”

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	18. When Your Hope is Sinking Like a Stone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song Long Way Home by The Goo Goo Dolls.

“Right,” Harry yawned, “MMO. Let’s go over it before we head to the hospital.”

Draco tapped the murder board where it said, “MEANS”.

“How? A gun,” Harry said, “But not just a gun, an execution. Putting them on their knees and shooting them in the back of the head. It’s one step short of a firing squad; she thinks they are traitors or deserters.”

Draco tapped another word, “MOTIVE”.

“She hates purebloods,” Harry said, “She wants to revolutionise the wizarding world and give power back to the people. She doesn’t want a handful of powerful families controlling the affairs of the nation.”

Draco nodded, “And ‘OPPORTUNITY’ is an easy one. It was Lucia; she killed him personally.”

Harry sighed, “Yeah. She left a message on the wall; she left that piece of parchment on his body to send us a message. She definitely killed him personally.”

“So all that remains is who next?”

“Which is why we need Theo,” Harry said, glancing at the clock. It had just gone 8 am, “Come on, let’s go to St. Mungo’s.”

They apparated to St. Mungo’s together and headed straight for Theo’s room. They both stopped abruptly when they realised that Theo wasn’t alone in his room. Neville was sitting in a wheelchair by Theo’s bed, and they had been laughing about something when the other two walked in.

Draco looked hurt. Harry felt a small pang of jealousy, but it was nothing compared to the frown and the look of betrayal on Draco’s face.

“You two are hanging out?” Harry asked calmly.

“Yeah, we are allowed to,” Theo snorted, “You two are hanging out.”

“Hanging out?” Harry retorted, “You notice the official robes?”

“Aren’t you still suspended?” Neville queried.

“My suspension was lifted early because Lucia killed someone,” Harry said darkly, “That’s why we’re here. We need Theo’s help to identify her next target.”

“But since you’re here anyway, I suppose you might be useful too,” Draco said stiffly with a nod in Neville’s direction.

_You’re acting like a scorned lover._

Draco tried to shove Theo out of his head. He glared at the dark-haired man, “Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything!”

“Stop thinking so loudly then,” Draco muttered irritably as he cast his wand at the opposite wall, conjuring up a corkboard.

Harry began to pin pictures of every serving member of the Wizengamot up on the corkboard. Once they were all up, he put a large ‘X’ over Graham Montague’s.

“Montague is dead,” Harry said, catching Neville’s eye. His former Auror partner knew the significance of that, and he nodded in response.

“He was found dead late last night. Lucia used a gun, she bound his hands and feet and killed him on his knees,” Harry explained.

“Like an execution,” Theo said quietly.

“Exactly,” Draco replied darkly, “We already have posters of her everywhere, and the public is on high alert, but this is already getting out of control. The minute there is a second murder, they are going to nickname her the executioner, I can guarantee it.”

Theo nodded and looked at the board, “And she’s going after the Wizengamot. I mean, it makes sense. Suppose you want to revolutionise the ministry? You wipe out the old order first.”

“Precisely, “Harry said, “She started with Montague because he was an easy target. He was the last in his line, so that’s the Montague family wiped out now. What we need to work out is who she will go for next.”

“Not us,” Theo said, “She’s not a psychopath, she does have rules, and she takes the oath that we take as Aurors very seriously.”

“How can she with what she has done?” Neville asked in disbelief.

“Because in _her_ mind, she is upholding the Auror oath,” Harry said.

“That’s exactly what I was going to say,” Theo admitted.

“See?” Harry said to Draco, “I’m your new Theo, you’re my new Neville.”

Theo snorted in amusement but hurt flickered across Neville’s face. Harry noticed, “Oh no Nev, I didn’t mean-”

“It’s fine, Harry,” Neville said roughly, “I get it. Even if I do come back, I’ll be out for a while with this injury. Just carry on.”

Harry shot Neville one last apologetic glance and said, “She swore that she would perform her duties with fairness, integrity, diligence and impartiality. As far as she is concerned, ridding the world of purebloods is promoting fairness and integrity. She is nothing if not diligent and she _is_ impartial, she hates purebloods but she hates muggles just as much.”

Harry took a breath and began to pace the small hospital room, “She swore to uphold fundamental human rights and accord equal respect to all people, magical or muggle. She isn’t breaking that oath in her mind.”

“But,” Theo cut in, “She swore in that same oath to protect and preserve the Auror corps. If she is following the rest of the oath, that means she won’t kill a fellow Auror or the close family of one unless she can help it.”

“I agree with that logic completely, Theo,” Harry said, pulling the photographs of himself, Draco, Theo, Neville, Percy, Sorenson and Oliver from the board.

“Take Susan’s photograph down too,” Theo said, “Her husband is an Auror.”

Harry took the picture down, “What about Belinda? She sits on the Zabini seat, and Blanche is an Auror.”

“I would take it down for two reasons,” Theo admitted, “One, there is an Auror in the family and two, she isn’t going to go for big families. She’s going to start with easy targets.”

“What about Cygnus Greengrass?” Harry asked, “He’s my father-in-law.”

“He’s an easy target though,” Draco mused, “He’s older…”

“I think her oath will only extend to Aurors, their partners and their children,” Theo agreed.

They all looked at the board; there were still a lot of names on there.

“Doesn’t narrow it down much, does it?” Harry asked with a sigh.

“Take MacDougall down,” Neville said.

Harry looked over at his best friend, “What’s your reasoning?”

“They are Seamus’s kin. We know some of them worked with Lucia in the past and the MacDougalls are a huge clan. She wouldn’t go after them unless she had to,” Neville reasoned.

“Okay, I’m convinced,” Harry said, taking Hamish’s photograph off of the board.

“Take Clara’s photo off,” Theo said, “She’s the wife of an Auror, and she’s a Trauma Healer herself. Lucia would be stupid to go after her.”

“And take Kingsley’s photograph down,” Neville said, “She won’t go after the Minister for Magic. That’s something you do when you’re close to winning, not at the start of your tirade.”

Draco nodded “She killed Sumner because she was desperate, not because it was necessarily part of her plan.”

“I expect she saw an opportunity,” Theo agreed, “Take down the Head Auror and leave the department in disarray so that when she started killing people, we weren’t able to catch her.”

“Jokes on her then,” Harry said coldly, “Because we’re going to get this bitch.”

“But we have 13 possible targets up there with no idea of who she is going to go for next,” Draco pointed out, “And we can’t tell the entire Wizengamot to go into hiding, it would cause mass panic.”

“We just need to be on high alert,” Harry said, looking at the board thoughtfully, “And we need to warn the entire nation of that.”

“Are you talking about a radio announcement?” Neville asked in disbelief, “Because that hasn’t been done since the war.”

“Haven’t you noticed, Neville?” Harry asked, meeting Neville’s eye, “This is a war.”

“Only this time we’re on the other side,” Draco said with a frown, “We’re not the purebloods trying to gain power. We’re the purebloods who are _in_ power trying to stop the person who wants to tear that down.”

“Yeah,” Harry sighed, “And this time, we don’t have the advantage. She does, and all we can do is wait for her to slip up.”

“Good luck,” Neville said, “Between the two of you, you’ll get her.”

“For the sake of the wizarding world, I really hope you’re right,” Draco admitted.

“So do I,” Harry said quietly.

* * *

“What are you reading?”

Draco looked up at Sadie, “Oh, nothing important. I’m trying to work out what this quote that Lucia left at the crime scene means.”

“What did it say?” Sadie asked curiously. She leant in the doorway of the library with an old jumper of Theo’s over her nightdress.

“ _All men are created equal,”_ Draco answered, “It’s not from any document in here though.”

“Have you asked your wife if it’s a muggle quote?” Sadie queried, “Lucia was raised in the muggle world, remember?”

“I know, but it didn’t sound familiar to Hermione either,” Draco said, shutting the book with a sigh, “And I doubt it matters much. We know it was Lucia; we just don’t know how to catch her.”

“Background checks all coming up empty?” Sadie guessed.

“She has no family, no friends,” Draco shrugged, “No known places where she could be lying low.”

“So you’re just waiting for her to strike again,” Sadie said.

“You sound like Harry, always using snake metaphors,” Draco said, rolling his eyes and pushing himself to his feet.

“He is rather obsessed with snakes for a Gryffindor,” Sadie said with a smile. She placed her hand on Draco’s arm when he reached her at the door, “But you need to stop obsessing for five minutes. Go to bed, enjoy your afternoon at the Burrow tomorrow and then when you come home from work on Monday, Theo will be home.”

A genuine smile lit up Draco’s face, “He got the all-clear then?”

“He did,” Sadie said cheerfully, “They will discharge him into my care on Monday under the condition that he goes back in for weekly check-ups.”

“That’s great news,” Draco said. When Theo came home, he hoped things would begin to feel normal again.

* * *

“Stupid fucking quote!” Harry snapped, throwing a copy of the bible down onto the small desk in the library of Potter Manor.

A click sounded behind him, and he leant back in his chair, “I hate her.”

“Nev filled me in at the hospital earlier, so I assume you mean Lucia,” Lilly said, “Where’s Daphne?”

“Dealing with another one of Andie’s night terrors,” Harry said.

“Why are you glaring at the bible?”

“Because I thought it would have the answer and it doesn’t,” Harry complained.

Lilly raised an eyebrow at him, “The answer to what?”

“What ‘All men are created equal’ means,” Harry said, pushing himself to his feet, “I don’t suppose it rings a bell to you?”

“Not off the top of my head,” Lilly confessed, “But I could always google it.”

“You could what it?”

“Google it,” Lilly said slowly, “You have become such a pureblood. Do you even know how to use a laptop?”

“What the hell is a laptop?”

Lilly shook her head in disbelief, “I can’t bring it here because the wards will fry it and do you know how expensive Apple products are?”

“Apple?” Harry’s frown deepened, “Like the fruit?”

“Oh my god, you’re a such a pureblood,” Lilly said in disbelief, “Come on.”

She opened the door to the vanishing cabinet and stepped inside. When she shut the door, she disappeared with a soft click. Harry followed her through to the library of Longbottom House.

“Study, now!” Lilly called.

Harry rolled his eyes, “I have no idea how Nev puts up with you, you know? You’re so demanding,” he muttered as he stepped into the study.

“Maybe he enjoys it,” Lilly said, shooting Harry a smirk and sitting down behind her desk. In front of her was some sort of machine which was whirring loudly.

“Laptop,” Lilly said, pointing at the laptop, “It takes a while to boot up, but once it does, we can google your quote.”

“Okay,” Harry frowned. He watched as Lilly ‘booted up’ the laptop.

“This is a search engine, and it can answer most questions,” Lilly explained, “What was that quote again?”

“All men are created equal,” Harry said.

Lilly typed this in, and the words appeared on the screen. She hit a big key, “It’s searching.”

Harry watched as the search results popped up.

“Okay so according to Wikipedia,” Lilly said as the web page loaded, “ _The quotation “all men are created equal” is part of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, which Thomas Jefferson penned in 1776 during the beginning of the American Revolution. The phrase was present in Jefferson’s original draft of the declaration. It was thereafter quoted and incorporated into speeches by a wide array of substantial figures in American political and social life in the United States. The final form of the phrase was stylised by Benjamin Franklin. It has been called an “immortal declaration”, and perhaps the single phrase of the American Revolutionary period with the greatest continuing importance.”_

“That’s a warning if ever I heard one,” Harry said solemnly, “She’s starting a revolution. She wants to absolve wizarding Britain of purebloods the same way that America cut ties with Britain to gain their freedom.”

Lilly bit her lip, “She’s smart and sneaky. I hate to say it Harry, but she’s got the best parts of Draco and Theo, and she’s evil.”

“Yeah Lil,” Harry sighed, “I know, she might well be more dangerous than Voldemort, and she’s definitely smarter.”

“Look, I really need to talk to Daphne,” Lilly said as she headed back to the vanishing cabinet.

“Can I stay and talk to Google?” Harry asked,

Lilly smiled, “Sure, but you need to type, not talk.”

Harry looked down at the keyboard, “I’ll figure it out.”

* * *

When Lilly slipped out of the library, Daphne was heading down the stairs, “Hey. You wanted to talk to me?”

“I have something to run by you,” Daphne said as they fell into step together and headed for the kitchen.

“I should warn you,” Lilly joked, “You might not see your husband for the rest of the night. I introduced him to google, and he’s pretty fascinated. He’ll be in the library at Longbottom House for hours.”

“Google?” Daphne asked.

“The search engine I was telling you about,” Lilly said, “Remember how I explained the internet to you?”

“Oh yes,” Daphne agreed, “What did he need to use that for?”

“Lucia left a line at the crime scene-”

“- all men are created equal, yeah he was banging on about that from the minute the kids went to bed,” Daphne finished, “What’s it from?”

“The American Declaration of Independence,” Lilly answered, “Harry thinks it’s a sign that she’s starting a revolution.”

“That sounds about as terrifying as it probably is,” Daphne remarked dryly. She put the kettle on the stove and motioned to an ordnance survey map on the table, “Where do you think we ought to put the Manor?”

Lilly cocked her head and looked down, “You’re serious about this, then?”

“Of course we are,” Daphne said, “We’ve all had a scare. Being closer can only be a good thing. You two aren’t having any regrets, are you?”

Lilly shook her head, “If anything, it will make things a bit easier for Neville. He’s worried that Harry is replacing him with Draco.”

Daphne scoffed, “As if he could. Nobody could replace Nev – don’t tell him I said that.”

Lilly grinned in response and leant over the map, “Right well you can’t put it on this side because that’s how the greenhouse gets the sun all day long. If you put it on that side, it’s going to be quite close to the lake, and you don’t want that for the flooding risk…”

“See? This is why I asked your opinion first,” Daphne said with a chuckle.

Lilly laughed too, “I would suggest putting it there. Back to back Manors work. Don’t you think? That way we would be close but with a bit of privacy because you have this section of woodland with the secret greenhouse in-between the houses.”

Daphne nodded and looked at the map, thoughtfully, “Yes, that would work. This is old farmland; it would be easy to buy. That would give us plenty of land either side of the manor and enough space to the back for the Quidditch pitch.”

“The main road comes up here,” Lilly said pointing to a track on the map, “So by car, it would take less than five minutes if you put the gate to the house here. It’s all single track country roads anyway.”

“And it would be what, a 15-minute walk through the woods between the gardens?” Daphne guessed.

“Something like that, yeah.”

“Right,” Daphne said with a nod, “What’s the soil in the Lake District like?”

“Quite soft, why?” Lilly asked, frowning at her best friend, “You’re not building a graveyard, are you?”

“No, just a secret passage between the houses,” Daphne said, shooting her a smirk.

“Oh jeez,” Lilly snorted, “Just not between the portraits of Charlus Potter and Augusta Longbottom, please.”

Daphne grinned.

“We’ll never hear the end of it!” Lilly exclaimed, “She’ll call it uncouth.”

“Oh who cares, she’ll just have to get used to it,” Daphne said, rolling the map up, “I’m going to talk to Bill about moving the house tomorrow and see if he shares my idea of how to do it.”

“You’re doing it yourself?”Lilly asked in surprise.

“Of course I am, I’m not paying the Ministry thousands of Galleons to do it wrong!”

“For fuck sakes,” Lilly muttered, “This is going to be like the Wizard of Oz. I’m going to get crushed by a house with only my sparkly red shoes left to identify me by.”

Daphne looked at Lilly in alarm, “Are you feeling alright?” she touched her forehead, “You are a little hot.”

“I give up,” Lilly snorted, “Bloody purebloods!”

* * *

“Good morning!”

Draco looked up in alarm, “ _What_ is wrong with your eyes?”

“I drank a lot of coffee last night!”

Draco narrowed his eyes at Harry, “You look high.”

“No, no, I’m fine!” Harry chirped, “Lilly introduced me to Google, and he is fantastic! He can answer almost any question you throw at him.”

“Including, what does ‘all men are created equal’ mean?” Draco asked, hopefully.

“Yes!” Harry said, “And he can print the answers onto paper like magic. Look!”

He thrust a piece of white paper at Draco who took it and shot Harry a wary look.

“The Declaration of Independence,” Draco frowned.

“It’s a message. It means she’s going to revolutionise the world!”

“Why do you sound so happy about that?” Draco asked in disbelief.

“Because I’ve had a terrific amount of caffeine!”

“Well,” Draco took a step away from Harry and put the piece of paper into a folder, “As interesting as that is, I’m not convinced it helps right now so please go home and sleep. I’ll see you at the Burrow later.”

“Okay, bye!”

Harry bounced out of the Homicide Office, and Draco looked over at the murder board, muttering, “What…the…fuck.”

* * *

By the time Draco and Hermione arrived at the Burrow that afternoon, Harry had crashed and woken up feeling normal again. He shot Draco a sheepish smile across the garden, but he was locked in conversation with Charlie, and Felicity had just cornered Hermione to share some ground-breaking tip about weaning babies off of dummies.

“Cas doesn’t even have one,” Hermione had muttered as she was dragged away by Ron’s wife.

Draco snorted in amusement and lifted Ella into the play area.

“Word in the department is that Lucia killed Montague.”

“Could you have said that more creepily if you tried?” Draco asked, turning to look at Percy in disbelief.

“Sorry,” Percy said, his ears turned red.

Draco leant against the railing and said, “But yes, we strongly suspect that this is the beginning.”

“Did she leave a calling card like a serial killer?” Percy asked in a whisper.

Draco shook his head, “She left a note on the body which Harry said was an African proverb. It said _The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth_.”

Percy frowned, “It’s a metaphor, isn’t it? The village is the Wizengamot, and she’s the child.”

“We think so, yeah,” Draco said, “But Theo says she swears by the Aurors oath so he doesn’t think she’ll hurt Aurors or their families unless she can help it.”

“She had better not come anywhere near my family,” Percy said, a dangerous undertone to his voice that Draco didn’t hear very often.

“We all feel the same, Percy,” Draco assured the redhead, “We won’t let her hurt any of our families.”

“Boys!” Susan said as she walked over to them, “Less talk of murder. It’s family time, save this for Monday.”

“Sorry, Suse,” Draco said.

Percy just put his arm around his wife’s shoulder and kissed her on the cheek.

* * *

“Hey, Bill!”

“Hi Daphne,” Bill said, raising an eyebrow at her, “You’re too happy. What do you want?”

“What do you know about moving large objects with portkeys?”

“Super difficult to do,” Bill replied, “Requires an excellent level of maths to make sure that everything is moved where and when it’s supposed to because of the different density of – fuck off – I am not moving your house for you.”

“I thought _we_ could do it actually,” Daphne said, “We _are_ curse breakers and therefore, very good at maths.”

“ _Why_ are you moving your whole house? And how far?”

“Quite far,” Daphne admitted, “About 300 miles north, to the Lake District.”

“The Lake District?” Bill began, but then he realised, “Neville and Lilly live in the Lake District.”

“Excellent observation Bill,” Daphne remarked sarcastically, “So what do you think?”

“It’s do-able, but it won’t be easy,” Bill replied, “We would need deep diagnostic charms of the house and its foundations. We would need to take soil samples from the current plot in Surrey and the potential plot in the Lake District. It would require at least ten portkeys, all placed perfectly and spelled to move at the exact same millisecond.”

“But we _could_ do it,” Daphne said.

“Of course we could do it,” Bill said, “I’m the best curse breaker in Britain, and you’re my apprentice.”

Daphne snorted, “Colleague, please.”

Bill smirked at her, “There will be conditions of course.”

“Obviously,” Daphne deadpanned.

“Come back to work a little sooner than you had planned,” Bill pleaded.

“I will come back earlier, but not to the bank.”

“Huh?”

“I think…” Daphne said, leaning forward and meeting his eye, “…we should go freelance. Maybe see if Greengrass Industries is interested in branching out into curse breaking?”

Bill leant back in his chair and surveyed her, “That is a very interesting proposition.”

Daphne smirked, “If we get funding, we could open an office in Diagon Alley. We could take on a receptionist, we could pick our own cases, and the bank wouldn’t take a cut of our earnings. I also happen to be pretty well in with the Assistant Head Auror so getting a contract from the Auror department to be their go-to curse breakers would not be difficult, he’s _very_ easy to bribe.”

Bill snorted, “For you, I’m sure he is.”

Daphne chuckled in response, “We could hire our own staff too, which would mean no more incompetent interns.”

“You’ve got my attention,” Bill said, “We’ll move the house and then look into the idea. As soon as we get it off the ground, you come back to work. Deal?”

“Deal,” Daphne said, holding out her hand.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” Bill said with a wide grin.

* * *

Harry and Daphne were just getting ready to leave the Burrow when all hell broke loose. There was usually at least one family argument on a Sunday or one incident involving a child doing something dangerous or naughty.

This week things had been very plain sailing until Teddy said to Molly, “Did you know my Mum is a hooker?”

Molly spilt a glass of sherry down herself, and the Weasley men laughed so loud that they scared the kids.

Draco was beside himself with laughter as Harry pointed at him, “This is your fault! You’re a terrible Auror partner!”

“I’ve been your partner for one day!”

“Exactly! How did Theo put up with you for five years?”Harry asked over the chaos while Daphne tried to explain _why_ Teddy had said that, and Hermione tried her best to hold back her laughter.

* * *

“Draco Malfoy, you are the world’s most pompous arsehole!” Harry exclaimed as he flew into the Homicide Office on Monday morning.

“How much shit did you get in with Molly last night?” Draco asked his Auror partner.

“Molly _and_ my wife,” Harry muttered, “You’re a dick, and I hate you. Who are these children?”

Draco smirked at the two young men in the bullpen, “Baby Aurors, meet Harry Potter.”

“Pleasure to meet you Chosen Auror Potter, sir,” Euan Abercrombie said.

Harry raised an eyebrow, “Chosen Auror Potter? Think you’re being funny, do you?”

Abercrombie blushed, and Owen rolled his eyes, “Can’t believe you fell for that, you idiot. Good morning sir, I’m Owen Cauldwell.”

“This idiot is Euan Abercrombie,” Draco said, nudging his head in Euans direction.

“Abercrombie,” Harry said with a frown, “You were in Gryffindor, weren’t you?”

“Yes, sir,” Euan replied.

“Why do I recognise that name?” Harry mused, “Weren’t you that kid that asked Ginny out while I was dating her?”

Euan smiled at the recognition, “Yeah, sir. I thought she’d be easy; she went through all of the older guys in our house after all.”

Harry frowned at him, “Easy?”

“Turns out it’s because she’s a lesbian with Zabini though,” Euan shrugged.

Draco raised an eyebrow at Harry, “See? Complete and utter idiot.”

Harry nodded, “Well Abercrombie, Ginny is still one of my best friends, and Blanche Zabini has saved my life more than once on the job. I would recommend that you keep your opinions to yourself when they aren’t wanted. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to have a word with Shep.”

Without another word, Harry swept out of the bullpen, through _his_ Assistant Head office into Johns office.

“Morning Shep. You got time to amend the staffing arrangements before the announcement this morning?” Harry asked calmly.

John looked up at him, “Yes, why?”

“I just met Euan Abercrombie, and he’s a dick. I want to swap him out with another Junior,” Harry said calmly as he opened the filing cabinet, “I’m thinking Benedict Smith or Stewart Ackerley.”

“You want to swap him out because you don’t like him after your first impression?” John asked in disbelief.

“He called my ex-girlfriend a whore and slagged off Blanche, I’m not working with him,” Harry remarked, “And especially not when I need semi-competent baby Aurors who I can rely on in the fight against Lucia.”

“Fine, but you can’t have Ackerley,” John said with a roll of his eyes, “You can have Smith. Now get out, I have a big announcement to make.”

“Yes, sir,” Harry said. He smirked at John and left the office, with the Head Auror hot on his heels.

“Attention everyone!”

Slowly people began to leave their bullpens and gather in the communal hallway, “As you all know, we suffered several casualties in our raid to get Auror Nott back. As a result of that, I have been forced to restructure the department. Now that his suspension is over, Senior Auror Potter will take on the role of Assistant Head, and that’s Mitch off to the training centre.”

There was a round of applause, at which Harry rolled his eyes. Euan Abercrombie looked incredibly sheepish; he hadn’t realised that he had been talking to the Assistant Head Auror earlier.

“Senior Auror Cauldwell was badly burned in the raid and is currently recuperating at home. We expect him to be back within two weeks and when he returns, Senior Auror Blaine Zabini will be stepping down to allow Senior Auror Weasley to lead the department with Cauldwell. Until he gets back, keep teaching Percy the ropes, Blaine.”

“Yes, sir,” Blaine said.

“Blaine, your new partner is Auror Coote, please welcome him to the Organised Crime family guys,” John continued, “And we are all aware of the reasons that Junior Auror Cross was dishonourably discharged so Auror Kirke, you are partnering up with Junior Auror Dobbs in her place. Again guys, welcome him to the Organised Crime family.”

“Yes, sir,” They echoed.

“Homicide,” John said, turning to look at Harry and Draco, “Is now being run by Senior Aurors Potter and Black who will be partners for the foreseeable future due to the injuries that Aurors Nott and Longbottom received in the aforementioned raid.”

There was a sea of nods at this, “Auror Higgs, this is your big shot. You are being partnered up with Auror Savage who is running late-”

“Sorry sir, Rob forgot to tell me that it was today!” Jason said as he dashed into the department.

John rolled his eyes, “If it had been anyone else I wouldn’t have believed you, but it’s Rob, so of course he forgot, “Savage, Higgs: I believe you trained together?”

“Yes, sir,” Both men said.

“Good, you’re partners now,” John said calmly, “Abercrombie, you’re transferring to Vice because Potter says you’re a dick who called his ex-girlfriend a whore. And Smith, you’re replacing him.”

Abercrombie swapped with a preppy looking boy with white-blond hair.

“Draco Malfoy 2.0,” Harry whispered in Draco’s ear.

“Shut up,” Draco returned.

“Vice!” John said, “Senior Aurors Ford and Oliver Wood are now leading you. Due to a lack of staff, we are reducing the Arson department down to four full-time members of staff with a rota in place for every other department so every pair of Aurors or Seniors will be on call with Arson Duty for 2 or 3 nights a week. We’ll have reserve Aurors who have worked in Arson who will be called in if a big fire requires it as well.”

There were more nods.

“On that note, Aurors Gibson and Miller, we’re transferring you out of Arson into Vice,” John finished, “It will be a bit of a change for you, you’ll be blowing things up instead of putting fires out.”

A laugh went around the bullpen at those words.

“CPS is losing two members of staff,” John continued, “Auror Lux Montgomery has been transferred to the Magical Law Enforcement Squad following an incident with her superior officer and Jace here is now a hotshot Homicide Auror. CPS will be running with two Seniors and two Juniors, and that’s a model I’m going to implement in all of the quieter departments.”

This caught the attention of the room. John continued, “That being said; I would like to congratulate Aurors Blanche Zabini and Ophelia Wood on their promotion to Senior Aurors and their appointment of the Fraud department.”

Blanche and Ophelia looked stunned as a round of applause sounded for them. Harry grinned at the two girls, “You deserve it.”

“Thanks,” Blanche said, beaming from ear to ear.

“You will be working with and training up, Junior Aurors Madley and McDonald,” John said to the two women, “Arson, you guys are losing Gibson and Miller, but I would also like to congratulate Junior Aurors Victoria Hughes and Travis Bishop on their promotion to full-blown Aurors.”

There was another round of applause as the two Juniors received congratulations and pats on the back from their colleagues in Arson.

John smiled, “With Weasley moving to Organised Crime and Senior Auror Alec Stone deciding to retire, that leaves Missing Persons without any clear leadership so Senior Aurors Davies and O’Shanter are going to head that up, and you guys will be training up Junior Aurors Ivy Montgomery and Graham Pritchard.”

More nods followed.

“Alright, guys! Everyone to your new bullpens, get to know each other as much as you can on the job, and soon you’ll be off on a work-based retreat!” John said, grinning wickedly as a groan went around the room.

“You swapped Abercrombie out because he insulted your ex?” Draco asked in an amused whisper as they headed back into the Homicide bullpen together.

“I swapped him out because Abercrombie was a dick,” Harry muttered. He shut the door of the bullpen and said, “Plus, you told me he was a dick, and I trust your judgement. You’ve spent longer with him than I have.”

Draco smiled slightly at that.

Harry turned around and faced the room, “Right then. Cauldwell, you related to Sadie?”

“She’s my cousin,” Owen replied, “We’re not close. My Dad married a muggle. Her Dad was kind of a dick about it, but I’m a Hufflepuff, and she’s family, so I don’t hold it against her.”

“Okay, I like you,” Harry said calmly, “Smith, you related to Zacharias?”

“He’s my brother sir,” Benedict Smith replied.

“How unfortunate,” Draco drawled.

“It is unfortunate,” Benedict agreed, “Because he’s a complete and utter wanker.”

Harry grinned, “Not bosom buddies then?”

“No sir,” Benedict replied, “I was in Slytherin, my family thought that I was too ambitious for my own good but that in itself wasn’t an issue. When my brother found me snogging my best mate in a broom cupboard, they were less than impressed.”

“Who was your best mate?” Harry asked with a frown.

“A guy, I’m guessing?” Draco asked with an amused look.

“Exactly sir,” Benedict said cheerfully, “I am as gay as they come but don’t worry, I’ll give you guys the same speech I gave the guys I dormed with at the training centre. None of you are my type, and I’ve got a boyfriend.”

“Fair play,” Harry said, shooting Draco an amused look, “You’ll fit in here, Draco has a boyfriend too.”

“No, I don’t, I’m married to a woman,” Draco muttered irritably, “She’s _your_ best friend.”

“You’re married to a guy as well,” Harry teased.

“I’m not married to him! He’s my best friend!” Draco objected.

“That’s the cover story boys,” Harry said, pushing himself onto the desk, “But after a couple of months, you’ll work out the truth. Savage, you protected Hogsmeade during the war and crept around outside my house with Tonks, didn’t you?”

Jason grinned, “Yes, sir, and now you’re my boss.”

“You just keep anything you saw or heard to yourself, and we’ll be firm friends,” Harry said.

“No mentions of the Cedric Diggory dreams then?” Jason joked.

Draco grinned, “Yep, you’ll fit in just fine Savage,” he said, patting the older man on the back.

Harry snorted in amusement and turned to “Terrence.”

“Terry,” He corrected.

“Terry,” Harry said, “You were a Slytherin, a few years older than Draco and me?”

“Yes, sir,” Terry replied.

“So you just keep quiet about anything you saw and heard in the common room, and _we’ll_ be firm friends,” Draco said, echoing Harry’s earlier sentiment.

Terry smirked, “No mentions of your rants about Harry Potter with his scar and his broomstick then sir?”

This time Harry grinned, “I’ve got a feeling we’re going to make a good team!”

Draco shook his head in amusement, “But if the introductions are out of the way, can we get back to work? Because we do have the murders of Jack Sumner and Graham Montague to solve.”

Harry nodded, “Our murderer is Lucia Cross. She’s a former Auror, so she knows all of our tricks. She knows where all of our safe houses are, she thinks like us, and she’s always at least one step ahead of us. She also happens to be Draco’s half-sister.”

“For those of you who don’t know,” Draco cut in, “My father is a dick. He knocked up my best friends mother, and that child grew up to be Lucia Cross. She’s a sociopath, and she hates purebloods. We _think_ she aims to wipe out the Wizengamot and revolutionise the ministry, so this murder is only the beginning.”

“She’s going to strike again, but we have no idea when,” Harry said, flipping the murder board, “And these are the possible next victims.”

“Holy shit,” Jason said, “There are a lot of them.”

“Excellent observational skills Jace,” Terry said, patting his new Auror partner on the back.

Harry snorted, “You four get yourselves acquainted with the case. Draco, let’s go and have a chat with our resident medical examiner.”

Draco rolled his eyes as they left the bullpen, “At least Neville’s not here for him to flirt with.”

“Oh, he’ll just flirt with one of us instead,” Harry pointed out, “ _You_ probably.”

“Why me?” Draco whined.

“Because you’re better looking than me, conventionally.”

“Finally,” Draco smirked, “You admit I’m better looking than you after all of these years.”

“I said _conventionally_ ,” Harry pointed out, “If you’re into snarky blonds.”

Draco shot him an amused look, “You’re into snarky blonde’s, remember?”

“Female ones,” Harry said with a grin, “One particular super hot MILF who still looks like a model a few weeks after having a baby.”

“I thought you had a thing for redheads too,” Draco teased, “I mean we all know about _your_ foursome.”

Harry snorted, “My foursome?”

“Or brunettes for that matter,” Draco joked.

“No because unlike you Slytherins, I do not feel the need to fuck my best friend,” Harry remarked calmly.

“I haven’t fucked him!”

“That implies you have done something with him,” Harry said, shooting Draco an amused look as they reached the apparition point.

“Fuck off Potter,” Draco muttered.

They both spun on their heel and re-materialised in the basement of St.Mungo’s.

“And from the fact you said _you Slytherins,_ that implies Daphne’s fucked Lilly,” Draco continued.

“Oh if you only knew the things Neville and I have seen,” Harry said, shooting Draco a grin and opening a heavy metal door that had the words “MEDICAL EXAMINER” stamped on it.

“Good morning Justin!”

Justin Finch-Fletchley smiled up at them, “Harry, Draco! Nice to see you.”

“And you,” Harry said politely.

“How is Neville doing?” Justin asked.

Harry ignored the smirk that Draco was shooting his way, “Good. His wife thinks he should get out of the hospital today.”

“And how are you, Harry?” Justin asked, touching Harry’s wrist, “You share such a profound bond, don’t you? You must have been distraught.”

Harry gently pried Justin’s hand from his wrist, “Uh yeah. Very profound, It’s been hard.”

Justin nodded and looked into his eyes, “Your eyes seem so sad.”

Harry was sure he heard Draco sniggering behind him. _Bastard_.

“Draco is far more distraught though,” Harry said, “He and Theo really share a profound bond. You’ll remember from when we were in school. Theo just isn’t the same since he woke up, and it's tearing poor Draco apart.”

“Oh,” Justin turned his attention to Draco, “That is _awful_. Terry and I went through the same thing in school, you know? Terry was in the closet for so long because of the social stigma. It must have been so hard for you and Theo to keep it hidden for all of these years.”

“Oh no…it…uh…we managed, it’s fine,” Draco said evasively, “Now, we really are on a tight schedule so can you tell us what you know about our dead guy?”

“Of course,” Justin said smoothly, “He was shot with a gun. I examined the bullet that I extracted from his brain-”

Draco made a face.

“- and my best guess is that the gun used was a Walther PPK. It would make sense if your murderer is female, it’s small and concealable. She could easily slip into a stocking.”

Harry nodded thoughtfully, “Well done Justin; you managed to start that sentence sounding straighter than I’ve ever heard you sound and end it sounding gay.”

Justin grinned, “Thank you very much. The only reason I know so much about _that_ gun is because it’s James Bonds gun and I grew up with the Bond movies. I always did fancy Timothy Dalton,” he shot Harry a grin which was unnerving.

“Uh, right,” Harry said. He cleared his throat, “Anything else?”

“No DNA evidence on the body,” Justin said apologetically, “I checked everywhere, even under the nails. She left no trace at all, and his tox-screen came back clean too. It was hard to check whether his brain had been altered because the bullet blasted straight through it-”

Draco grimaced again.

“You are so squeamish,” Harry said, grinning at his new Auror partner.

Justin chuckled, “But it didn’t look like he had been under the imperius curse at the time of death.”

“Alright, thanks Justin,” Harry said with a smile.

“Your welcome,” Justin said cheerfully, “See you boys later!”

As they left, Justin winked at Draco.

The moment the door shut and they were alone in the corridor, Draco hissed, “You little shit!”

Harry grinned in response.

“He thinks I’m gay with Theo now!”

“You are gay with Theo,” Harry said, spinning on his heel and re-materialising in the back corridor of the Auror department.

“I’m not gay with Theo!” Draco muttered.

Harry turned around and stopped Draco from walking into the department, “Give up the act.”

Draco stopped in his tracks, “What?”

“Something has changed,” Harry said simply, “Since Theo came back, things are different between you two.”

“Oh yeah, things are different alright because he keeps thinking that I’m some alternate version of myself who fucked his wife!” Draco snapped.

Harry shook his head, “No, it’s more than that. There’s a tension there that wasn’t there before.”

“Tension?” Draco snorted.

“Sexual tension,” Harry re-iterated.

“What would you know about sexual tension?” Draco muttered irritably.

Harry raised an eyebrow, “Quite a lot. Daphne and I had a lot of it before we got together in eighth year.”

“Uh-huh?” Draco asked, looking down at Harry, “Is that the only time?”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Yes, maybe I had a bit of sexual tension with Cedric, but unlike with you and Theo, it _was_ just a phase.”

“How would you know? It’s not like you’ve ever kissed a guy,” Draco muttered.

“I have actually,” Harry said calmly.

This surprised Draco, “What? Who?”

“It was Neville,” Harry confessed, “But we were undercover, and we didn’t really have a choice. And for the record, neither of us enjoyed it at all. The only enjoyable thing about it was what Daphne and Lilly did when we showed them the memory.”

Draco shot Harry an amused look, “What’s the point of this conversation?”

“That some people are _just_ straight,” Harry said, “And that’s fine. Look at my wife, why would I want to look anywhere else when I have her? I’m solely interested in girls, and that’s fine. Daphne loves me but has way too much fun with Lilly when they get drunk together, and since Neville and I are okay with that, it’s fine.”

Draco frowned.

“If you and Theo are more like Daphne and Lilly than you care to admit, nobody will bother their arse about it,” Harry said firmly, “He was dead and now he’s back. Whatever regrets you had the first time he died, make sure you don’t have them when it happens for real.”

“Okay,” Draco said with a frown, “Let’s get back to work now.”

He shoved Harry to the side and strolled out of the corridor into the main department. Harry jogged to catch up with him, rolling his eyes all the while.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	19. Nobody Said it Was Easy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:
> 
> The Scientist by Coldplay (although personally, I prefer the Willie Nelson version lol!)

Draco decided not to go with Sadie to the hospital when she went to discharge Theo that night. Instead, Hermione went with her best friend. As much as Draco wanted to be there, he knew that Theo still wasn’t entirely comfortable with him, so he decided it would be better to wait for them in the house.

When the front door of number 11 opened, Draco pasted on his best supportive smile, but it fell from his lips the moment he saw Theo. When his best friend walked into his family home, he looked like he had seen a ghost.

Theo swallowed and paled at least three shades. He grabbed the bannister and tore his eyes away from the pictures of his children laughing and smiling. His eyes fell on the door to the basement and darkened.

Draco just wanted to hug him. He had never seen someone look so lost in their own home before. He reached out to place his hand on Theo’s, but the dark-haired man swiped it away on autopilot, almost punching Draco as he did so.

Draco’s eyes widened, and he took a step back.

“Draco,” Theo gasped, “I…I’m sorry.”

Draco swallowed, “It’s okay. I understand.”

“The twins are upstairs in the drawing-room,” Sadie said softly.

Theo nodded stiffly.

“Ella will be so happy to see you too,” Hermione said, hooking her arm through Theo’s and guiding him upstairs. Sadie fell behind a little and whispered, “It’s like he doesn’t recognise his own home.”

“He probably doesn’t,” Draco whispered back, “You and I saw his nightmare world. It was this house but…different…so different.”

“Do you think the memories of that world will ever fade?” Sadie asked, fear flitting through her eyes.

“I hope so,” Draco said, trying his best to ignore the sinking feeling in his gut. The way Theo looked at him these days broke his heart, but he couldn’t tell Sadie that. She needed to hold onto hope that it would get better soon, that it would go back to normal one day.

They all did.

* * *

When Neville and Lilly arrived back at Longbottom House, Neville smiled weakly.

“Glad to be home?” Lilly asked.

“Yeah,” Neville admitted, “I just wish I didn’t have to come home in this damn chair.”

“It’s just for the moment,” Lilly reminded him, “You can walk short distances, but for any long walks around the lake, you _must_ stay in the chair.”

“I’ll do what I’m told Lilly,” Neville said irritably.

Lilly sighed and pushed him up the path towards the house, “Why do you sound so bitter about it?”

“Because although I’m home, I’m still trapped,” Neville replied, “You heard the healers. I can’t apparate, I can’t use the floo. The only way I can travel is by portkey while I’m strapped into this fucking chair.”

“Don’t lose your temper at me!” Lilly exclaimed, “I’m doing my best to hold it together for you, but I’m pregnant with twins, in case you forgot?”

“I didn’t forget, but I can’t help you at all,” Neville said, looking up at her irritably, “I’m useless.”

“No, you aren’t. You’re healing,” Lilly said firmly, “And I want you to heal quickly and properly, so you need to do what you are told, whether you like it or not.”

She placed her hand on the door, and it swung open. Neville sighed and tapped the edge of his wheelchair. It automatically drove him into the entrance hall. Lilly stepped in after him and shut the door behind her, “Now, you ungrateful little shit, turn around and talk to your best friend!”

Neville spun his chair around and looked at Harry. He was leaning in the doorway into the library, “Hey, how’s my favourite Auror partner?”

Neville smiled weakly, “Is Draco that bad?”

“Draco’s impossible and impossibly gay for Theo,” Harry said with a sigh, “But in such denial.”

“Yeah,” Neville said with a slight smile, “Spending time with Theo in the hospital has been like living with a bloody Norwegian Blue.”

“What?” Harry asked as Lilly snorted in amusement.

“It’s a parrot, they live in pairs,” Neville said offhandedly, “They pine for each other when one of them is away. Theo’s pining, but he won’t admit that.”

Harry chuckled, “I won’t keep you for long. I know you’ll be happy to be home. I just wanted you to know that Clara gave us a bit of warning that you’d not be able to travel easily. It’s going to be a few weeks until the house can be moved to the Lake District so until then, I’ve done a nifty little spell-”

“Fuck off; you did not!” Daphne’s voice said, but it sounded muffled.

Harry rolled his eyes, “Okay let me rephrase that, Daphne and Bill have done a nifty little spell-”

“Better!”

“To keep the vanishing cabinet open,” Harry explained, “So it’s a little like Narnia right now.”

He stepped away from the door and motioned to the cabinet which had two fur coats hanging in it for some reason.

“Lilly put the coats there, for artistic licence,” Harry said, shooting Lilly a grin, “But if you push them to the side like this…”

He pushed the coats, and where the back of the cabinet should have been, there was now an open space. At first, Neville thought it was a mirror because he could see the library, but then Daphne appeared and waved, “I will have to keep the library door locked at all times though Nev because otherwise, the kids could escape to Longbottom House.”

“It’s totally safe,” Harry assured him, “Clara okayed it and said it won’t jar your back or anything. She said you’ll just feel a tiny shift when you walk through because of the change in the wards. I know what she means; it’s a tingly feeling. It’s weird at first, but then you kinda start to enjoy it,” he joked, shooting Neville a grin.

Neville looked from the passage to Harry in disbelief, “I can’t believe you did this for me.”

“We thought it might help,” Daphne said with a smile, “Being able to go between both houses. That way you aren’t just trapped in your house, you can choose between your house and our house.”

“Our house is very loud during the day though,” Harry warned Neville.

“There are a lot of fights,” Daphne agreed.

“Mostly between the kids and the house-elves,” Lilly snorted.

Neville grinned, “I don’t care. I’ll spend almost every day round there.”

“I figured you might, what with Lil being at work,” Daphne said, “So I’ve put a comfy armchair by the vanishing cabinet, and you can have free reign of the house as long as you promise to ward the library door so the kids can’t crawl through the cabinet. That’s the only rule.”

“That and don’t start having an affair with my wife while Lilly and me are at work,” Harry joked.

“You think I have time for affairs?” Daphne quipped with a raised eyebrow, “I have _four_ children to look after all day every day. Neville, you will be seeing a lot more of the ‘Mum’ me than the hot me, trust me.”

“She still looks hot as fuck in leggings and baggy tops,” Harry muttered to Neville.

Neville snorted in amusement, “Doesn’t matter how hot she looks, does it? That part of my brain doesn’t talk to my dick anymore.”

“Okay, so we’re making jokes about the erectile dysfunction now,” Lilly remarked, “That’s a good sign, I guess.”

“I’m not going to lie, that’s not a sentence I thought I would ever hear,” Harry said with a shake of his head, “But I am going to head home and let you get settled in. Come through whenever you want and shout if you need anything okay? The wards will always let you through but if it’s the middle of the night and you hear noises, just shut your eyes before you walk into the kitchen just in case.”

Lilly snorted, “Have any of your kids being conceived in beds?”

Harry glanced at his wife, “Have they?”

Daphne thought about this, “No, I don’t think they have.”

“And on that note, goodnight,” Lilly said, shoving Harry through the cabinet.

Neville shook his head in amusement, “Those two are still too horny for their own good.”

“They are, but it suits them,” Lilly agreed.

“Lilly,” Neville said awkwardly, “I realise that I’m going to be useless in that department for a while, but you still have needs so if you need to…you know…have Daphne round or something…I understand.”

Lilly shot him an amused look, “Neville, as sweet as that is, I am pregnant with twins. I’m either throwing up, sleeping or thinking about how sick or tired I feel. The only thing I want to do when I get in bed is sleep, and then when the first trimester is over, and the nausea goes away, I’m going to be fucking huge so don’t worry. I think we’re both on board with a sexless relationship for the next little while.”

Neville chuckled and pushed himself out of his chair, “Don’t ever change Lil,” he said, kissing her gently, “I love you.”

Lilly opened her mouth to tell him that she loved him too, but before she could, Harry’s voice came through the passage.

“Little tip, don’t have personal conversations in the library anymore because to keep the passage open, sound carries!”

“And I’m kind of offended that you don’t want to sleep with me anymore!” Daphne’s voice came through.

“Oh for the love of Merlin,” Lilly said, shooting Neville an amused look, “Let’s go to bed.”

* * *

“Do you think he’s going to get better now he’s home?”

Hermione spun around in Draco’s arms. They were lying in bed together, and although they hadn’t been talking, they were both awake, and both of them had been thinking about Theo.

“I hope so,” Hermione said, “But you saw him earlier…he looked like a lost puppy.”

“In his own home,” Draco said, “The place where he brought his children up.”

“There should be more good memories to bad,” Hermione said, “Over time things should even out but….I couldn’t face Malfoy Manor for a long time after what happened to me there.”

“Do you think that’s how Theo feels about number 11?”

“Maybe, yes,” Hermione worried, chewing her lower lip.

Draco kissed her lightly, “Don’t do that; you’ll give yourself an ulcer.”

“I can’t help it,” Hermione admitted, looking into his eyes, “I know it’s not the same, but I keep thinking about what happened to me in the war. I was tortured for a few hours, not two weeks, and…honestly Draco it took me about a year, maybe even longer to be able to say that I felt okay again.”

“Theo’s strong, just like you,” Draco said, pushing a loose hair away behind her ear, “I can tell that you’re family. You’re alike, very much so. It’s why you fight so often but why you can understand each other so well. You got back from it and he will too. He has so much to get better for.”

Hermione smiled and kissed Draco softly, “He will get better, love. But not on his own. I know it’s hard when he looks at you like you’re the villain, but underneath the confusion, he loves you. We need to help him get better, all three of us.”

Draco swallowed a lump in his throat, “We will,” he said.

* * *

When Harry walked into work on Tuesday morning, the Auror department was chaotic. He had a feeling it would be one of those days when his arse didn’t touch a seat until at least midday.

The minute Harry walked into the Homicide bullpen, Draco caught his eye, and Harry knew he was right.

“Another one?”

Draco nodded, “And this one was under _our_ protection.”

“Fuck!” Harry cursed, “The last thing we need is bad press right now!”

“I know,” Draco said darkly.

“Who did she kill?”

“Joseph Fawley,” Draco answered.

“In the safehouse?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“No, I doubt she could get through the wards,” Draco replied, “She killed him outside the safehouse. He left, along with two members of the magical law enforcement squad, and he was killed in the back garden of the safehouse before he could apparate. We need to go to the crime scene now anyway-”

“Before we do,” Harry cut Draco off, “Terry, Jason. Bring in the two members of the magical law enforcement squad that were there. Speak to Susan Bones; she’s the judge most likely to grant us permission to test them with veritaserum. If you need to, just tell her that Harry Potter knows what she did last summer in Greece and she’ll give you the paperwork.”

Terry smirked at that, “Yes, sir.”

“You want them questioned to make sure they don’t have any anti-pureblood leanings, sir?” Jason guessed.

“Exactly,” Harry said, “We need to nip things like that in the bud before half the department ends up dirty like it did in the wars against Voldemort.”

Both Aurors nodded, and Harry looked over at Benedict (who they had learned liked to be called Ben) and Owen.

“Baby Aurors, you guys ready for your first crime scene?” Harry asked them.

Ben and Owen both nodded eagerly.

“You don’t need to look so happy about it,” Draco said dryly as they left the office with the baby Aurors following.

“You are about to see a dead guy with his brains blown out,” Harry agreed, “What have we got here in the way of blood status by the way? Owen, half-blood like me, yep?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And you’re a pureblood Smith?” Harry asked.

“Yes sir but Dan is a muggle-born, and we live in muggle London together,” Ben said.

“Dan’s your best mate turned boyfriend?” Draco guessed.

“Yes sir,” Ben agreed, “I guess you know what I mean. When you get together with a muggle-born, you don’t really get a choice. They force you into loving weird things from their culture; in my case, it’s James Bond.”

“ _That_ might be useful,” Harry said, turning and pointing at Ben as they reached the apparition point, “Because the murder weapon was a Walther PPK.”

“James Bonds gun,” Ben and Owen said in unison.

Owen grinned, “Whose your James Bond then?”

“Oh I mean I know we grew up with Roger Moore, but Timothy Dalton was brilliant, wasn’t he?” Ben asked eagerly.

“I loved Pierce Brosnan in the ’90s too,” Owen admitted, “I saw every film that I could at the cinema with my mum.”

Harry and Draco rolled their eyes at each other as the two boys talked about James Bond animatedly.

“Okay guys, co-ordinates!” Harry said loudly.

The conversation came to a stop, and all four of them apparated to the crime scene. When they arrived, Harry and Draco flashed their badges, and the four members of the MLE squad nodded and stepped aside.

Harry and Draco led the way through the house into the back garden where the body of Joseph Fawley was located.

“Definitely her,” Harry said. Joseph was slumped against the back wall of the garden. His hands were tied behind his back, and his feet were bound too. He had been shot in the back of the head just like Montague.

“First impressions, guys?” Harry asked the two Junior Aurors.

“He was executed, just like Montague,” Owen said, “The body is placed in the same stance.”

“Probably killed with the same gun, or a very similar one,” Ben added, “Looking at the size of the wound.”

“And she left another message,” Draco said, looking at the wall that Joseph Fawley had been executed against.

_“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.”_

Harry frowned, “It’s a message, alright. She thinks she’s doing the right thing here, freeing the wizarding world of purebloods.”

“That quote is from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” Owen said, “I had to study it in muggle school for political debate class.”

“So she’s quoting the American Declaration of Independence and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at us now?” Draco asked dryly.

“She thinks of herself as a revolutionary, a fighter for the people,” Harry said, “She wholeheartedly believes that and it’s why she’s so dangerous.”

Draco sighed. This was going to get worse before it got better, _much_ worse.

“Boys,” Harry said to a couple of members of the MLE squad, “Get the body to the morgue, please. Ben, Owen; sweep the crime scene for anything the MLE boys might have missed, and we’ll see you back at base.”

“Yes, sir.”

Harry and Draco walked through the house silently, but when they reached the quiet street outside, Harry said, “You know who's next, don’t you?”

“Stuart Fawley,” Draco said quietly, “Another person we don’t particularly like.”

“It doesn’t mean we can just let her kill him,” Harry said firmly, “We need to inform him of his cousin's death and tell him to go into hiding. He is the last Fawley now; he must be her next target.”

“Whose going to do that? Because we both beat the shit out of Fawley for what he did to Daphne, remember?” Draco asked in an undertone.

“I know, that’s why I’m going to send Savage and Higgs to do it,” Harry said. He smirked at Draco, “We’re in charge now, we get to delegate.”

“You _are_ sneaky,” Draco chuckled, “Daphne has definitely influenced you.”

“I was a hat stall years before I met her,” Harry said, spinning on his heel and disappearing from view.

* * *

“Go bug Justin for answers.”

“You go bug Justin for answers.”

“He’ll ask me to bring Theo to a bloody gaybar!”

“He’ll try and touch my hand again!”

A snort sounded from the doorway, and Harry and Draco both turned around. Jason and Terry had just walked back into the bullpen.

“How did it go?” Harry asked them.

“Terribly,” Terry answered, “Mostly because Stuart Fawley is a dick.”

Harry nodded his agreement, “Yes, that is true. He declined our offer of a safe house then?”

“His sister and her husband were there too,” Jason said.

Harry rolled his eyes, “So Kevin Brown had to get himself involved, did he?”

Terry nodded, “They said that our safehouses clearly weren’t very safe because Joseph had been murdered in one.”

“We told them that we had new safehouses that Lucia didn’t know about, but they said they would take their chances and go to one of their family properties,” Jason finished.

“But she’ll know about all of their family properties!” Harry said in disbelief, “She will have researched her victims while she still worked in the department!”

“We told them that too,” Terry said.

“And they still decided to take their chances,” Jason added.

“Suit themselves,” Draco shrugged, “If they don’t trust us, we can’t force them into a safe house.”

Harry sighed and shook his head, looking up at the crime board, “Let’s station a few members of the MLE outside Fawley House anyway. If anything untoward pops up, tell them to send us a Patronus. We’ll have to be on call for the foreseeable future, so I would try and avoid heavy drinking if I were you.”

“When do I have time for heavy drinking?” Draco asked irritably, “I have a toddler and a newborn. Not to mention a Theo who is wandering around his house like a zombie freaking the hell out of everyone.”

“It will take time for him to adjust,” Harry said, “Don’t try and push ‘normal’ on him too soon. Neville is struggling too; he’s house-bound because he can’t use the floo or apparate; it would twist his back too much at a crucial point in his recovery.”

Draco nodded glumly, “I’m depressed. Can you please go and talk to Justin?”

“Fine,” Harry ground out, “But next time, it’s your turn!”

He stalked out of the room, and Draco grinned, “Gents, that’s how you train a Gryffindor.”

“Oi!” Jason objected, “I was in Gryffindor.”

Terry laughed, and Draco cocked his head at him, “Really? I didn’t have you down as a Gryffindor, Savage. You seem more Hufflepuff to me.”

“Don’t say that like it’s an insult,” Owen muttered irritably.

Terry smirked, and Draco realised something, “Hang on! Are we saying that Slytherins primarily run this department? There are three of us to two Gryffindors and a Hufflepuff.”

“One of those Gryffindors is Harry Potter though,” Owen pointed out, “So he kind of counts for two people.”

“Maybe even three,” Jason said.

Draco snorted, “No, he doesn’t. He’s a useless prat. Do you think he’s cool now? Wait until you see him geeking out over pictures of his baby rolling over or waffling on about anti-gravity trees with Neville. He’s a complete and utter nerd.”

Terry raised an eyebrow at his boss, “A complete and utter nerd with a broomstick and a scar and mesmerising green-”

“That’s enough of that Higgs,” Draco cut in while the other men sniggered.

* * *

“Morning, Justin,” Harry said with a half-smile, “Sorry for the early call, but I could really do with some information from you.”

“It’ll cost you,” Justin said, far too suggestively for Harry’s liking.

“Oh don’t worry, I’ll bring you a coffee the next time I come down,” Harry said, brushing Justin off politely, “I don’t suppose you know for sure what gun was used?”

“I do,” Justin said. He lifted the sheet back, and Harry looked down at Fawley’s body.

“She didn’t dispose of the evidence, she used the same gun,” Justin said, “It’s definitely a Walther PPK with a .34 calibre bullet. I know it’s the same gun because it’s an old one, probably ex-military issue. After a while, they don’t shoot straight.”

“She held the gun straight to his head, close range,” Justin continued, motioning to the wound on the back of the head, “But the bullet went in at the same angle both times, so it’s the same gun.”

“She’s arrogant,” Harry said with a shake of his head, “She’s so sure that we won’t catch her. I don’t suppose the bullet was still in his head?”

Justin shook his head, “No, she vanished the evidence so you can’t trace the serial number on the bullets. She’s good.”

“I know,” Harry said, looking down at the body, “No DNA evidence?”

Justin shook his head, “Nowhere obvious. I’m still waiting for the tox-screen to come back, but if anything else pops up, I’ll send you a Patronus.”

“Thanks, Justin,” Harry said with a smile, “I owe you a coffee. Give my best to Terry!”

He dashed out before Justin had a chance to say anything else.

* * *

“Lil, you’ve got a pretty good record of working out if someone’s gay or not, haven’t you?”

Lilly shot her husband an amused look, “Yeah, my gaydar is pretty on point. I totally called it during the war, didn’t I? I told you all that Terry was gay. I don’t think I told _you,_ actually, because this was while you were in the Dark Tower. Either way, nobody believed me, and he started dating girls in eighth year, so I thought, maybe I got this one wrong then boom.”

“He married Justin,” Neville chuckled, “And now Justin flirts with Harry every time he needs to go to the ME’s office.”

“Only because you’re not there anymore,” Lilly chuckled, “No more invitations out to gay bars with him and his husband.”

“Thank Merlin,” Neville muttered, “Anyway, the reason I was asking was that I’m curious to hear what you make of Draco and Theo.”

“Well, neither of them are gay,” Lilly said straight away.

“But they are into each other?” Neville asked.

“Obviously,” Lilly said. She surveyed Neville, “There are too many words to define sexuality Nev, and not everyone can be tied up in a neat little package with one word. Ginny’s bisexual, Blanche is a lesbian, Justin is gay, but other people are more complex than that.”

“Daphne?”

“Definitely bisexual, and Susan too,” Lilly said, “But then there are the likes of Draco, Theo and me.”

Neville raised an eyebrow at her, “I’m intrigued that you’ve lumped yourself in with Draco and Theo but go on.”

“I like guys, for the most part. Daphne is the exception,” Lilly explained, “It’s a singular same-sex attraction.”

“That…actually makes a lot of sense.”

“Of course it does, I’m a Ravenclaw,” Lilly said, shooting him a grin, “We’re highly logical, and we don’t see the world in black and white. I need to go, or I’ll be late for my _last_ backshift. Merlin, being pregnant is great sometimes.”

Neville laughed and got up to kiss her. He often grimaced or looked to be obviously in pain at such a small motion, but tonight it looked effortless. Lilly grinned against the kiss, “You’re doing so well, and I’m incredibly proud. I love you.”

“Love you too,” Neville said, deepening the kiss and placing his hand on the small of her back.

Lilly took a step towards him and pressed her body against his, pushing herself up on her tiptoes to kiss him more deeply. She placed her hands on either side of his face, and Neville lowered his hands to the small of her back. As much as she was enjoying it, she really was going to be late and just as she was about to pull away to tell Neville that, he pulled back anyway.

“Look!”

Lilly looked alarmed, “At what? Are you okay?”

“I’m brilliant!” Neville said with a grin, “Kissing you got me hard, my dick isn’t broken!”

Lilly burst out laughing, “Small victories,” she choked out through her laughter as she dashed out of Longbottom House.

* * *

Neville was still pretty pleased with himself when Harry stepped into the kitchen a short while later.

“What’s got you grinning?”

“Trust me; you don’t wanna know,” Neville admitted with an amused smile, “Coffee?”

“I don’t need coffee; I need fucking whiskey,” Harry muttered.

“Why?” Neville asked in alarm. He looked up at his best friend, “Have you relapsed?”

Harry shook his head, “No, but I’m finding it hard not to. I’m spending hours pouring over the same information, getting no results and I can’t help but think it would be easier with a glass of bloody firewhiskey.”

“No,” Neville said firmly, “If I can go through what I did without becoming an alcoholic, you can catch this bitch without relapsing. Don’t you dare touch a bottle of anything, do you hear me?”

Harry looked into Neville’s eyes, and Neville saw the helplessness there, “Neville, I don’t know if I can catch her.”

“Of course you can,” Neville said. He got up from his wheelchair and crossed the kitchen to stand in front of Harry, “You’ve never let someone get away before.”

“There’s never been one like her before,” Harry said. He leant against the kitchen counter and tore his eyes away from Neville’s, “Not since Voldemort, and it took me seven years and a lot of help to get him. I couldn’t have done it without you, and this time, I don’t have you.”

“Not by your side with a sword,” Neville agreed. He smiled sadly at Harry, “My sword-swinging days are definitely over, but you still have my brain. If you want to go over your files with me every night, you can. I’m not your Auror partner anymore, but I’m still your best friend.”

“No,” Harry said with a smile, “You’re more than that, you’re my brother.”

“Thank Godric, you ended it that way,” Neville said with a chuckle, “After the conversation I just had with Lilly I half expected you to say you fancied me.”

Harry made a face, “No, but what conversation did you just have with Lilly?”

Neville laughed and put the kettle on, “She was discussing how some people are bisexual, and others just have a singular same-sex attraction to someone.”

“Is that how she feels about Daphne?” Harry snorted.

“Yep, and how she reckons Draco and Theo feel about each other,” Neville said.

“Yeah, there’s more than friendship there,” Harry agreed as he pulled the coffee and sugar out of a cupboard, “I had to have a frank chat with Draco about it in the back corridor the other day.”

“You’re having deep chats with Draco in the back corridor?” Neville asked, raising an eyebrow at Harry.

“You, of all people, know how _not_ into guys I am,” Harry said with an amused smile, “I had a deep chat with him because he’s my partner now and I can tell he’s in love with Theo even if he can’t.”

Neville poured the coffee out, “What’s got you so pissed off at the moment anyway?”

“The fact I know who her next victim is and I can’t do anything about it because Stuart Fawley is a prick who doesn’t trust the Auror department,” Harry muttered.

“Can you blame him?” Neville asked bluntly, “After what we did to him when we were still in training?”

“I know,” Harry said with a frown, “And the thing is, I’m struggling to feel remorse over the people she has killed. Montague was a bastard, and so was Joseph Fawley.”

“Just because she’s killing bad people, that doesn’t make her a good person,” Neville pointed out. He sipped his coffee.

“I miss your little pearls of wisdom,” Harry sighed, “I just miss you, Nev. Our new team is good and all, but it’s not the same.”

“You’re in charge now, though,” Neville said, “That must be fun.”

Harry shook his head and looked at his best friend, “You led an army during the war. You’ll know as well as I do, being in charge is overrated.”

“Yeah,” Neville agreed, reaching across the table and taking Harry’s hand, “But some people are suited to it, whether they like it or not and you are a natural-born leader. People like you, they respect you, and they look up to you.”

“And I get them killed, or paralysed,” Harry said, looking down at his coffee.

“No,” Neville said, he squeezed Harry’s hand, “You save their lives with the elder wand. You fix damage that shouldn’t be able to be fixed, and then you _still_ feel guilty about it.”

Harry looked up at him.

Neville smiled, “We’ll never stop being grateful, Lilly and I. I hope you know that.”

“I do,” Harry promised, “But I just keep thinking…if I had been better, you wouldn’t have been hurt at all.”

“Don’t dwell on the past, Harry,” Neville said softly, “Live in the present. Drink your coffee and give me those files. You never know, I might see something that you and Draco missed.”

Harry slid the files over and sipped his coffee, “Thanks, Nev.”

“Anytime.”

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	20. You and I Walk a Fragile Line

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:  
> Haunted by Taylor Swift.

“Sadie!”

Sadie yawned and called, “Yeah?”

“I need help!” Draco’s voice said.

Theo frowned from where he lay next to his wife in bed.

“Come in then,” Sadie called.

“Come in?” Theo asked in disbelief, “You’re hardly dressed.”

“And? It’s Draco,” Sadie said, rubbing her eyes as the door opened.

Draco stepped in with Ella in tow, “Hermione has that big case she needs to assist on today, and I need to get the kids to her parent's house, but she told me to braid Ella’s hair. How the hell do I do that, Sade?”

Sadie chuckled, “Come on baby, I’ll sort your hair out.”

Ella jumped onto the bed and sat down nicely. Sadie waved her wand and conjured up some hair ties.

Draco sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at Theo. His best friend was looking at him as if he was doing something wrong.

“What…?”

Theo scoffed.

Draco frowned, “What have I done?”

“Apart from gotten cosy with my wife while I was ‘dead’?” Theo asked bitterly.

“Don’t be like that,” Sadie said quietly, “Not in front of Ella.”

“Not in front of _his_ kid,” Theo muttered under his breath.

“My kid?” Draco asked quietly, “They’ve always been the kids. Not my kids and your kids, just the kids.”

“Things change,” Theo shrugged.

“Take this out of this room, right now,” Sadie said in a firm tone of voice.

Theo got to his feet and left the bedroom, and Draco followed him. He disappeared behind a tapestry and Draco ducked in after him, the stone passageway was narrow and was a shortcut down to the kitchen. Theo used it all the time these days because it meant that he didn’t have to face the basement steps. It was those steps he had thrown Sadie onto, those concrete steps that had been covered in her blood after he lost his temper with her in the nightmare world.

When the shadows on the wall were in the wrong place, he could swear that those bloodstains were still there.

“What the fuck is going on with you?” Draco hissed, grabbing Theo’s hand and yanking him back.

Theo turned around, his eyes glinting with malice. He shoved Draco up against the wall, “What the fuck is wrong with me? What the fuck is wrong with _you_? She’s my wife!”

“I know she is; I haven’t done anything to take her away from you!” Draco snapped, “It’s all in your head. You’re still in the nightmare world, but this is the real world, Theo! And in the real world, I don’t want to fuck your wife.”

Theo pressed Draco against the wall hard. The blonde man grimaced in pain and tried to shrug him off, but Theo’s grip was too strong. Their faces were inches from each other’s, but their expressions couldn’t be more different. Theo was angry, he looked betrayed, and Draco just looked fed up.

“When you stop acting like an idiot for five minutes, you’ll be able to see what this is really about,” Draco muttered, pushing Theo away from him with a blast of magic. He flipped the tapestry out of the way and left Theo alone in the passageway.

* * *

“Why do you look like someone’s shot your puppy this morning?” Harry asked Draco when he walked into the Homicide bullpen on Wednesday.

“Because Theo’s a bloody prick,” Draco muttered, “And I hate him.”

Harry shot their new colleagues a grin, “See? Theo’s his boyfriend.”

“No, he’s not,” Draco said irritably.

“He complains about him more than he complains about Hermione,” Harry said as a memo flew in. He caught it and continued, “And she’s his…” Harry frowned, “…wife.”

“What is it?” Draco asked sharply.

“She’s killed again,” Harry said, looking up at his team “But this time, it wasn’t just one person. It was a triple homicide so suit up guys, all six of us are going to the scene for this one.”

“A triple homicide?” Jason asked, shrugging on his Auror robes.

Harry nodded, “Stuart Fawley should have gone into a safehouse when we gave him a chance. He, his sister Annabella and her husband Kevin, were all murdered at one of the Fawley properties in Edinburgh sometime last night. The bodies were found by a house-elf this morning and guess what the cause of death was?”

“Gunshot wounds,” Terry answered.

“Exactly. The body count is racking up, we’re at six now, and all we know is that she used the same gun and vanished the bullets so that we couldn’t track them,” Harry informed them, “So after we have examined this crime scene, we need to get a profiler in here to try and identify who her next victim will be. Otherwise, this won’t end until she has wiped out the Wizengamot.”

“She’s well on her way,” Draco said, “That’s the Fawley line, and the Brown line wiped out in one go. In less than a week, she has exterminated three wizarding families.”

“And she’s not going to stop at three,” Harry said darkly, “Come on, guys.”

* * *

The crime scene was different from the last two. For a start, the Fawley’s and Kevin Brown hadn’t been murdered inside. Their bodies were against the wall of the drawing-room in the grand house on the outskirts of Edinburgh that the Fawley family-owned.

“How did she get in?” Harry asked.

“Ward disruptor would be my best guess, sir,” Terry replied.

Draco licked his finger and put it into the air. He murmured a spell that created a wind then he nodded and opened his eyes, “She disrupted the wards alright but not with a ward disruptor. She used a temporal disruption charm.”

“She froze time?” Owen asked in surprise.

“She didn’t freeze time, she disrupted the temporal composition of the wards,” Draco remarked irritably.

“Don’t worry, that sounds like ‘she froze time’ to me too,” Harry said, “Draco’s just in a bad mood because he fought with his boyfriend this morning.”

Draco, who was usually so calm and collected, lost it at those words. He turned around and grabbed Harry by the scruff of the neck, “He is _not_ my boyfriend! Right now, I’m not even convinced he’s my best friend so mind your own fucking business!”

He let go of Harry roughly and stalked to the other side of the room. Harry brushed himself down and turned to the Aurors who were looking on in surprise. He cleared his throat, “Shows over, back to work. What do we make of the crime scene?”

“She must have used the imperius curse,” Jason said. He surveyed the scene, “Because there’s no sign that any of them tried to run. It’s like she lined them up and walked down the line, shooting them all.”

“That’s exactly what she did,” Harry said, his own eyes on the three bodies that were slumped against the drawing-room wall, “But that doesn’t mean she used the imperius curse. She may have just been scary and intimidating enough to get them to do her bidding.”

“That’s almost scarier than if she had used the imperius curse,” Ben said with a frown.

“And that’s the point,” Draco said gruffly, “The more someone is feared, the more powerful they are.”

“Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself, as an old friend of mine once said,” Harry remarked, thinking of Albus Dumbledore.

“Do you happen to know what that quote means, Owen?” Ben asked his Auror partner.

Owen shook his head. The fiery words gleamed on the drawing-room wall before them.

_To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity._

“No, that one doesn’t ring a bell, sorry,” Owen answered, “What does it mean?”

“In this case, it means that Lucia thinks the purebloods are oppressing the rest of the wizarding race,” Draco said, keeping his distance from Harry.

“Do you think she’s working alone, sir?” Terry asked.

Draco nodded, “At the moment, I’m sure of it.”

“So am I,” Harry agreed, “Higgs, Savage, stay here and make sure those bodies get to the morgue in one piece. Black, take Cauldwell and Smith back to the ministry and start trying to establish links between our five victims. Don’t count Jack; you’re right about her seizing an opportunity there.”

Draco nodded stiffly, “Where are you going?”

“I’m going via St. Mungo’s on the way back to the ministry,” Harry said, “I have a feeling Lilly will know where that quote comes from, and I need to make sure she eats something…”

* * *

“Hey! How’s my favourite Healer?”

Lilly grinned at Harry across the ward, “I’m your favourite? Oh, Clara will be heartbroken.”

Harry laughed and crossed the room to stand with her by the window, “Am I your favourite Auror now that Nev’s out of action?”

“Nope, sorry,” Lilly teased, “Retired or not, Neville will always be my favourite.”

“Ah, well, I tried,” Harry chuckled, “You had lunch yet?”

“Nope.”

“Have you taken a break yet?”

“No,” Lilly remarked, raising an eyebrow at him, “What are you, my husband?”

“Just your husband's messenger,” Harry retorted, “He didn’t know what you were craving today so I’ve got McDonald's happy meals and Mcflurrys.”

“Oh, I’ll eat it all,” Lilly said eagerly, “I take it back, you’re my favourite.”

“All Nev’s idea,” Harry said, “I’m just the messenger.”

“Lucy, I’m taking my break!”

Lucille, who Lilly had trained with nodded and said, “Okay, see you in half an hour!”

“I’m on my lunch too,” Harry said, “Mainly because I need to calm down before I go back into the department or I might throw Draco through a wall.”

Lilly raised an eyebrow at him as she pressed her wand into a small hole on one of the breakroom doors. It buzzed softly and opened into a little dorm room with a bed, a table and a desk.

Harry dropped down onto the bed with a sigh as Lilly sat down at the table, “What did he do to make you want to throw him through a wall?”

“Oh you know, just grabbed me by the scruff of the neck in front of four other Aurors,” Harry said, pushing himself up and looking at her, “Does he actually realise how disrespectful that is? I’m the fucking Assistant Head Auror.”

Lilly nodded and bit into a cheeseburger, “You are. You could give him a black mark on his record for that.”

“I could!” Harry agreed angrily.

“But you won’t,” Lilly pointed out, “You want a cheeseburger?”

Harry took the cheeseburger from her, “Why won’t I?”

“Because you know he only did it because he’s suffering and when you put yourself in _his_ shoes and think, how would I be coping right now if Neville hated me for something I hadn’t done? If he thought I was trying to shag his wife? You know the answer would be that you wouldn’t be coping,” Lilly said calmly.

Harry rolled his eyes, “I hate it when you’re right.”

“Oh my god, this is so good. It has extra gherkins!”

“Yeah, Neville told me to ask for that. Here, you can have mine too, you freak,” Harry joked, depositing some more gherkins on her napkin.

The insult didn’t phase Lilly, she was just grateful for the extra gherkins. She swallowed her mouthful and said, “Talking about people trying to shag their best friends wives, is Daphne still pissed off about that time you kissed me?”

“Don’t even mention that in front of her,” Harry said, pointing at the short woman, “She still brings it up in every single fight. It doesn’t matter what we’re fighting about, she says it! How many times do I have to say, _there were lust spores! They made you want to shag the first person you looked at, and Lilly was **trying** to heal me!_”

Lilly grinned, “Neville and I still laugh about it all the time. Sometimes we’re lying in bed, and I can’t stop giggling because I think about that case. The whole thing was ridiculous, attack of the sex plants…”

Harry snorted, “Thank fuck I looked at you, not Neville or Rob.”

“God, could you imagine if that had been you and Rob?” Lilly cackled.

Harry shook his head in amusement.

“I can’t believe Daphne’s still pissed off about it,” Lilly chuckled, “We’ve done much worse.”

“When we were all together,” Harry pointed out, “That’s what she said when we fought about it, _it’s fine when I’m there_! I think she was just jealous.”

Lilly scoffed, “Did you hear what Neville said the other night? About me having Daphne round because I have ‘needs’.”

“Yeah,” Harry laughed, “I hate to say it, but I feel like our foursome has become much more of a thing than the Black-Nott one.”

“Nah,” Lilly said, “It’s just different. Theirs is very emotional, and it’s more like there are four of them in an everyday relationship. They have breakfast together; they have family days out together, you know? Ours is more like two separate relationships that occasionally come together for a little bit of fun.”

Harry snorted, “Nice way of saying ours is more sexual than theirs, Lil.”

She shot him an amused look, “Shut up and eat your cheeseburger.”

“I will, but I do need to ask you a work-related question,” Harry confessed.

“Okay?”

“Have you ever heard the quote, _to deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity_?” Harry asked her.

Lilly frowned, “Yeah…Nelson Mandela said that.”

“Who?”

“He was a civil rights activist from South Africa,” Lilly explained, “I think he said that about the apartheid. You know, the separation of black and white people in South Africa?”

“Yeah…”

“Was that the quote at your latest crime scene?” Lilly queried.

“Yeah,” Harry said, “I couldn’t bring myself to be sad about that one, but I should be because it was a triple homicide. She killed Stuart and Annabella Fawley, and Kevin Brown.”

“I don’t want to say that Stuart Fawley deserved it but…” Lilly trailed off.

“I know,” Harry said simply.

“So why is she quoting stuff about civil rights at every crime scene?” Lilly asked, “Does she think she’s freeing the wizarding world from pureblood rule or something?”

“I think that’s exactly it,” Harry admitted, “And I need to go because the next job is working out whose next.”

“Good luck with that,” Lilly said dryly.

“Thanks,” Harry said sarcastically. He pushed himself up and gave her a brief hug, “Drink plenty of water and sit down if you get dizzy!”

“I will! Don’t throw Draco through a wall!”

“I’ll try not to!”

* * *

When Harry got back to the main department, he didn’t throw Draco through a wall. He calmly ducked into the Homicide bullpen and said, “Black, with me.”

Draco followed him out of the office into the central corridor silently. They bypassed Johns office, and Draco breathed a sigh of relief until he saw the door that Harry was holding open - it was the door to the duelling chamber.

Draco stepped inside and drew his wand. Harry followed and pulled his wand out of its holster, “I don’t know who you thought you were grabbing by the scruff of his robes earlier. I don’t know if you just forgot who I was and thought I was that scrawny little Gryffindor who you picked on in school, but we’ve grown up since then, Malfoy.”

“Black.”

“ _Malfoy_ ,” Harry said slowly, just to draw a reaction out of him as much as anything else, “I’m not your schoolboy rival anymore. I am the Assistant Head Auror, and more importantly, I am your partner. You do not get to disrespect me in front of other Aurors like you did earlier.”

Draco scoffed and shook his head.

“If you’ve got a problem with me or something that I say or do, we bring it in here,” Harry said calmly, “Or we talk about it at home like adults. You don’t grab me in front of our colleagues and disrespect me like that. I would never _dream_ of doing that to you.”

“Equally, stop prodding at my private life in public,” Draco said coolly, “Because right now I don’t know where I stand with someone who was more than my best friend.”

“Whatever is going on between you and Theo, you can’t let it distract you at work,” Harry said.

“Nothing is fucking going on!” Draco exclaimed, throwing a blasting curse at Harry, “That’s the problem, Potter!”

Harry shielded against it easily.

“Nothing is going on!” Draco continued to shout, throwing relatively harmless but destructive curses in Harry’s direction, “No love, no friendship, nothing! And do you know why? Because he hates me! He fucking hates me!”

By this point, Harry had settled for putting up a strong shielded bubble so that Draco could attack until his heart was content.

“He hates me for something I didn’t do! He looks at me with anger and resentment and bitterness!” Draco continued, “He thinks I want to shag his fucking wife! That’s the irony of it! He thinks I’m jealous because he’s back so I can’t shag Sadie. Well, I don’t want to fucking shag Sadie! I just want him to look at me the way he did before he went to that fucking nightmare world!”

“Theo and Hermione,” Harry said with a small smile, “The two great loves of your life.”

“Fuck off Potter,” Draco yelled as he obliterated the dummy behind Harry with a strong ‘Reducto!’

“I should be there for him right now,” Draco finished, lowering his wand as the anger turned to guilt, “But I can’t be because I have a toddler and a baby, and a high-stress job with this fucking case driving me insane. So Neville’s the one he talks to via floo every single fucking day and Hermione is the one he’s confiding in when it should be me.”

“Draco, grow up,” Harry said firmly, “You want to be there for him, and you can’t be because he won’t let you. But Neville is, and you should just be grateful that _someone_ is. Those two are healing each other right now. Neville is not going to come back from this, and I think you and I both know that Theo will never be able to face this place again after what he went through.”

Draco sighed and looked down. Harry crossed the room and gripped Draco’s shoulder, “Listen to me, Shep is not going to last long as Head Auror. He already hates the politics of it, and after a couple of years, he’ll give it up to become head of the training centre. When that happens, I’ll become Head, and it will be _you_ that I want as Assistant Head. That wouldn’t be any different if Neville were here, okay? It would always have been you so yes, Theo isn’t in your life every day anymore but I think you need to face the facts.”

Draco looked up at Harry with a frown.

“It has always been you and Theo, and me and Nev,” Harry said quietly, “But that’s changing now, whether we want it to or not. It’s you and me, and we need to be completely on the ball if we’re going to keep each other safe. We need to trust each other completely if we want to stand a chance of catching Lucia. I have no intention of showing up on your doorstep and telling the kids who call me Uncle Harry that their Daddy isn’t coming home. Do you understand me?”

Draco nodded, and Harry pulled him into a hug.

“I don’t do hugs unless they’re with Theo.”

“I’m your Auror partner now, like it or not, we do hugs,” Harry said, patting Draco on the back and drawing away, “Is your head screwed on now?”

“Yeah, sorry about earlier.”

“It’s in the past,” Harry promised him, “Let’s just focus on the present.”

* * *

“Alastor! Leave Uncle Nev alone!”

“It’s fine, Daph!”

Daphne stepped into the library with Thea in a baby carrier on her chest. Neville was sitting in his comfortable armchair with Alastor on his lap.

“What’s that one?”

Neville smiled, “That one is the Venomous Tentacula. It’s very dangerous; it can bite your fingers off so you must never go near it without an adult.”

Daphne smiled, “Future Herbologist, huh?”

“Him or me?” Neville joked.

“Oh, you’re already one, you’re just not employed as such yet,” Daphne teased, “Al, baby. Grandpa is here with Cissa.”

“Grandpa!”

“Be careful getting down,” Daphne said, grabbing Alastor before he could jump on Neville.

The three-year-old raced out of the library, and Daphne looked at Neville, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. If I couldn’t handle them sitting on my lap, I’d lock the door,” Neville assured her with a smile, “How are you?”

“I’m fine. I’m not the one who just had a serious injury,” Daphne reminded him.

“No, just your fourth kid at 25 years old,” Neville said, cocking his head at her, “You look tired.”

“I am tired,” Daphne confessed, “Harry helped out during the night a lot more with Andie. It’s not his fault, but he’s losing himself in this case, and he’s…he’s kind of missing out on a lot of the early milestones with Thea because of that.”

“I’ll have a word with him.”

“You don’t have to do that, Nev.”

“I do,” Neville assured her, “Because I won’t let Harry become a workaholic. That’s the problem with him and Draco working together. They are _both_ workaholics; they will just keep going until they hit the wall. Theo and I were the ones who reminded them to eat, to drink water or coffee, to go home and stop losing themselves in the job.”

Daphne sighed and took Thea out of the carrier. The little girl was gurning and waving her head around, “She’s hungry. I need to go and feed her.”

“Just feed her here,” Neville said. He raised an eyebrow at Daphne, “We’re past the point of embarrassment, aren’t we? We’ve seen it all, and I tell you all my embarrassing erectile dysfunction stories.”

“Ah, it’s subtle anyway,” Daphne shrugged, “I tried to tell Lilly that but she’s not a fan of breastfeeding.”

“She’s shy,” Neville said, averting his gaze as Daphne began to feed Thea, “And with it being twins, she thinks bottle feeding will be easier.”

“It will probably help them gain weight too,” Daphne mused, “Be prepared for them being born early and being small like Mina and Charlie.”

“We are,” Neville said.

“When are you planning on telling the others?” Daphne asked curiously.

“After the three-month check,” Neville replied, “By that point, hopefully, we’ll know that everything is okay. It’s already going better than the last few though so I do think that whatever Harry did with the elder wand worked.”

Daphne nodded, “Going back to what you were saying about Harry losing himself in the job…do you think you could help him with that? Just grab him a couple of nights a week and take him to the greenhouse? Or sit with him and the snakes in the cabin? He needs you, Neville, as much as he needs me. I make him happy, but you keep him steady. You always have done.”

Neville nodded, “You don’t need to ask me to look out for him, Daph. I already am,” he promised.

“MUM! ANDIE BIT ME!”

Daphne rolled her eyes, “Can’t your bloody Grandpa do something about it?” she muttered under her breath. Alastor couldn’t hear that of course, because he was in the room across the hall.

“AND GRANDPA IS LAUGHING!”

Neville chuckled and pushed himself to his feet. He grabbed his cane, which was made of mahogany with a bronze handle, shaped like the head of a lion, “I’ll deal with them.”

“Thanks, Nev,” Daphne said, smiling gratefully at him.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	21. Your Hands Can Heal, Your Hands Can Bruise

Friday night was the boiling point for Theo. He had been home for almost a week, and he had been doing okay bar a few panic attacks and very little sleep. On Friday, he fell asleep very quickly, but he had an awful nightmare.

_He was back in the nightmare world, and Sadie and Draco were standing before him. Sadie handed him a birth certificate._

_“What the fuck is this?” Theo asked coldly._

_“Draco and I have a daughter,” Sadie said, taking a step back to stand next to Draco, “We’re taking Almina and Charlus. We’re going to raise them together.”_

_“Like hell you are!” Theo hissed, raising his wand and casting a killing curse at Draco._

_His best friend fell to the ground with wide, unseeing eyes and Sadie screamed, “NO!”_

_The shrill sound hurt Theo’s ears. He threw his wand down and grabbed her by the neck then he threw her against the basement door and held her there while she gasped and struggled for breath._

_The door snapped open, and they fell back onto the stairs together. A sickening ‘snap’ sounded, and Sadie fell silent, her eyes staring up at him while blood began to pool behind her head._

Theo opened his eyes and gasped in horror when he realised that he was on his knees in bed. He was kneeling over Sadie, and he had his arms wrapped around her neck. He let go and scrambled back, falling off the bottom of the bed in his haste to get away from her.

Sadie sat up, gasping and massaging her neck.

“Theo,” She choked out.

But Theo shook his head and ran from the room. He ran through the darkened house and didn’t breathe until he was standing on the front step. He took a deep breath, ran into the middle of the street and spun on his heel.

Theo paused and took a shaky breath when he reached Longbottom House. He gripped the gate tightly and inhaled sharply before placing his hand on the gate latch. There was a brief pause before he was granted access, and the gate swung open.

Breathing a little easier, Theo jogged up to the house in his bare feet; he was in such a state that he didn’t even feel the tiny cuts inflicted by the gravel path.

When he reached the door, he banged on it loudly for five minutes until a house-elf answered and let him into the entrance hall. Lilly appeared at the top of the staircase in comfortable old pyjamas, “Theo! What happened?”

Theo followed her gaze down to his feet and noticed that he had left bloody footprints on the marble floor of the entrance hall.

“The path,” Theo choked out, “Where’s Neville? I need Neville.”

“I’m here,” Neville said. He appeared by Lilly’s side in a dressing gown, with his cane in hand. He took Lilly’s arm, and between her and the cane, he made it downstairs.

“Sit down,” Lilly said softly.

Theo sat down on a wooden bench, and Lilly murmured a quick healing charm. Theo let his head drop into his hands, and he began to sob.

“I can’t do it. I can’t do this,” Theo sobbed, “I can’t just go back to normal and pretend nothing happened. Everyone keeps looking at me like I’m broken, and nobody can understand why. Not even Daphne, even though she tries.”

Theo sucked in a breath and exhaled it shakily, “For her, it was a few snippets, but for me, it felt like a whole lifetime. I cast my baby out, I never saw her get old, but I raised Charlus, and he hated me,” Theo gripped the edge of the bench so tightly that his knuckles turned white, “I saw Charlus go to Hogwarts, I saw his whole life play out, and everyone keeps telling me that it should balance out because I have as many good memories in that house as I have bad memories, but it doesn’t feel like that. I know it’s been five weeks since I played with my kids, but it feels like I’ve lived a whole other life since then. Five weeks ago feels like fifteen years.”

Lilly let go of Neville and hugged Theo tightly, “Theo, you need to calm down. Nobody thinks you are broken; we all just want to help you. The reason we keep trying to help you is because we know that you can come back from this. You can’t be the same person that you were before because experiences like this change us, but you can be better than you were before, you can be stronger.”

“I can’t,” Theo said tearfully, “I nearly killed Sadie tonight.”

Lilly sat down next to him, “Explain that.”

“I nearly killed her!”

“How?” Lilly asked calmly.

“I was having a nightmare,” Theo said shakily, “I was back in the nightmare world. I was reliving the moment she told me that she’d had a baby with Draco and that she was taking Almina and Charlus, and leaving me. I killed Draco, and then I threw her into the door, and I held her by the neck. The door gave way, and we fell and she…she died, like she did in the nightmare world.”

Theo took a breath, and Lilly gripped his hand.

“Then I opened my eyes, and my hands were around her neck and I just…I panicked, and I ran out and I…came here,” Theo said, his breathing was very uneven.

“It’s okay,” Lilly said calmly, “Just breathe. Stop thinking about it; just focus on the tick of that clock over there. Listen to that and breathe deeply.”

Theo nodded and did as she said. He leant against Lilly, and she drew him in for a hug. Lilly met Neville’s eyes as Theo began to cry quietly. It wasn’t loud sobs that wracked his body now. He cried softly, and tears rolled down his face.

“Theo,” Neville said quietly, “Do you want me to beat around the bush like everyone else has done or do you want me to get real with you right now?”

Theo drew back and looked at the Gryffindor, “I think I need that.”

Neville nodded, “Right. You need to pull yourself together. You never wanted to be the weak link out of the four of us. You wanted to make the Nott family great again. You wanted to break away from the things your family have done in the past.”

Theo swallowed.

“Do you want to be beaten by your half-sister? Your _illegitimate_ bitch of a half-sister?” Neville asked.

“Don’t make me angry, Nev,” Theo said quietly.

“Why?” Neville questioned, “You’re not going to duel me, are you?”

“Of course not,!” Theo said, “Not in your…condition.”

“Exactly,” Neville said hotly, “Because I’m a cripple. And do you know what Theo? That sucks, it really fucking sucks but I have to deal with that. Do you think I dealt with that on my own?”

Theo shook his head.

“No, Harry yelled at me and told me to stop feeling sorry for myself because yes, my life has changed, but I can still walk,” Neville remarked, “And I wasn’t grateful enough for that, but I am now. Do you understand?”

Theo nodded.

“You need someone to tell you that yes, your life has changed, but it’s still a damn good life,” Neville said firmly, “You have a wife who loves you and is probably terrified right now. Not because of what you did, but because she has _no_ idea where you are or what you’re going to do. She’s terrified that she will lose you all over again because she wasn’t able to help you.”

Tears shone in Theo’s eyes.

Neville continued, “You have two beautiful children, and children are something that not everyone is blessed with.”

Theo let his head drop into his hands.

“You have a good life, and when you can put the past behind you, you _will_ realise that,” Neville said firmly.

“I know.”

“So in the nicest way possible Theo, grow the fuck up,” Neville said, “Stop acting like a cry baby. You’re a good man and a powerful wizard, but right now you’re just acting like the weak link.”

Theo pushed himself up angrily, and Neville took a step back.

“I am not the weak link!” Theo hissed, “I was tortured for two weeks, and I didn’t tell them _anything._ I am not weak!”

“Prove it then!” Neville exclaimed, “Get better, fight this and show Lucia that she didn’t win. Show her that she doesn’t own you!”

“Yeah? How the fuck do I do that when I can’t even do magic?” Theo cried.

Neville smiled at his friend, “You think you can’t do magic? Look around you.”

Theo frowned and looked to his side. Surely enough, a warm breeze had whipped up in the entrance hall of the house.

“You’re doing that,” Lilly agreed, “You aren’t controlling it, but you are doing it.”

“I’m doing magic,” Theo said in disbelief.

“You’re doing magic,” Neville said with a nod, “Because your magic is sentient Theo. I couldn’t ride a broom in first year because the broom could sense my fear. It didn’t respect me so it threw me off, just like a horse would have done. Your magic hasn’t respected you since you got back, not until now.”

Theo let out a relieved breath and thrust his hands into the air. The wind spiralled upwards to form a cloud-like shape, then Theo shut his eyes and whispered an incantation.

Lilly smiled as confetti rained down from the fake cloud. The wind was gone, the entrance hall had been restored to normalcy.

“I can’t go home,” Theo said, wiping his eyes, “I can’t face her.”

“You need to face her eventually,” Neville said.

“But not tonight,” Theo shook his head.

“You can stay here if you send her a Patronus,” Neville conceded.

“I can’t,” Theo said. His frown deepened, “I don’t have enough happiness to conjure a Patronus right now.”

“I’ll send her one then,” Neville conceded, “Lilly, are you okay to show Theo to a spare room?”

“Of course,” Lilly said softly, “Will you be okay?”

“I’ll be fine,” Neville promised, smiling softly at his wife.

Lilly hooked her arm through Theo’s and led him up the stairs as Neville said, “Expecto Patronum!”

* * *

Sadie couldn’t bring herself to move, despite how much she wanted to run next door. She pushed through the haze of pain and grabbed a mirror from the top drawer of her bedside table. She whispered the incantation to activate it and said Hermione’s name.

A few minutes later, Hermione appeared. Her hair was bushier than ever, and her eyes were heavily lidded; she had obviously just woken up.

“Theo’s gone,” Sadie choked out, tears pouring down her cheeks.

Hermione instantly seemed more alert, “Gone? Sadie, do you want to come over?”

“I can’t,” Sadie sobbed, “I can’t, Hermione.”

“I’ll be there in a minute,” Hermione said, throwing the mirror onto the bed hastily and grabbing a dressing gown.

The commotion woke Draco up, “What’s going on?”

“Theo’s gone,” Hermione said, “And something’s wrong with Sadie.”

Draco grabbed his dressing gown, and the couple dashed through the house to the basement door. They ran up the steps into the hall and made their way upstairs to Sadie and Theo’s bedroom.

Hermione knew that things were bad the moment she walked in. Sadie was sitting on the floor with her back against the bed. One strap of her nightdress straps had fallen to the side, and bruises were already beginning to form on her neck.

Hermione’s eyes darkened, “What the hell happened?”

“Theo’s gone,” Sadie sobbed, “I woke up, and he was on top of me. He grabbed my neck, and he tried to strangle me, but he wasn’t even awake. I tried to wake him up, but he squeezed tighter.”

Sadie breathed in sharply, “I..I thought I was going to die. There were black spots in my vision. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t…”

Hermione dropped to her knees on the floor and pulled Sadie in tightly, “You’re okay,” she whispered, “I’ll stay right here, okay. Just breathe.”

Sadie wrapped her arms around Hermione and sobbed loudly. Her entire body shook, and Hermione shut her eyes tightly, “It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay,” Draco said from the doorway. His voice was hoarse, “None of it is okay.”

“If you don’t have anything useful to say Draco, go away,” Hermione said firmly.

“No,” Draco said stubbornly, “Because it’s not okay that it got to this point! He should have spoken to us about it; he should have spoken to me. I mean, where is he? He could be dead for all we know!”

Sadie sobbed louder, and Hermione glared at her husband, “Oh yes, that’s _really_ helpful,” she said sarcastically.

Draco rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest huffily.

Hermione got to her feet and pulled Sadie with her. She backed the blonde girl back into her bed and asked, “Can I borrow your wand and do a basic check-up on you? You’ve had a fright Sadie and I’m worried about you.”

Sadie nodded so Hermione did a diagnostic charm and sighed, “You’re okay, just in shock. Draco, if you want to make yourself useful, go next door to my potions store and bring me a calming draught and the bruise balm I use for the kids. The last thing we need is the kids seeing this tomorrow morning,” she said, running her fingers over the bruises on Sadie’s neck.

Draco left without a word, and Hermione sat down on the edge of the bed, “Are you really okay?”

“I think I will be,” Sadie said. Her voice shook, “I’m more worried for Theo right now. You didn’t see him, Hermione, he didn’t look like a monster or a beast. When he opened his eyes and realised what he was doing, he looked so scared. He didn’t look like an adult; he looked like a terrified little boy.”

“He will be scared,” Hermione said, taking Sadie’s hand in her own, “He loves you, and more than that he adores you. He would do anything for you and right now, he probably thinks the best thing for you is for him to keep his distance.”

Sadie’s eyes filled with tears, “I’m starting to lose hope that we’ll find a way back from this Hermione. What if whatever Lucia did…what if it’s too much damage? What if the old Theo never comes back?”

“The old Theo won’t come back, and you need to accept that,” Hermione said softly, “After I was tortured in the war, I was not the same person. I was different, and in some ways that was good, but in other ways, it was bad. Everyone around me had to get used to that change, and some people adapted better than others. Harry adapted better than Ron and look at how that reflects on our friendship now.”

“What if I can’t adapt?” Sadie asked tearfully, “I have Theo back, but he’s not _my_ Theo. He’s bitter and angry; he hardly laughs. When he looks at the kids, he looks at them sadly. He’s not the man who would throw them around the room then grin at me when I told him off because it was their bedtime. I want that man back more than anything.”

“Maybe the only way to get _our_ Theo back is to give _this_ Theo some space,” Draco said as he appeared in the doorway.

Sadie accepted a vial from him and knocked it back. She leant back against her pillows and breathed in slowly, “What if space makes things worse?”

“Staying here isn’t good for him,” Hermione said, “He was getting better in the hospital then he came home. Maybe some space is what he needs, a change of scenery perhaps.”

She began to dab the bruise cream onto Sadie’s neck and at that point, an enormous silver bear bounded through the window. It landed at the foot of the bed and spoke with Neville’s voice.

_“Theo is safe. He’s with us. He’s just working through some stuff, and he doesn’t feel like he can come home right now. Sadie, if you are okay can you please send Theo a Patronus? He’s really worried right now, and he is terrified about what he has done.”_

The Patronus disappeared, and Sadie sighed. Hermione finished dabbing the cream in and asked, “Are you up to it?”

“Just about,” Sadie said.

Hermione handed the blonde girl her wand. She closed her eyes and cried, “Expecto Patronum!”

A red panda bounded out of her wand and waited before her for instructions. She spoke clearly, “I’m okay, just a little shaken. I want you to come home, but if you need time, I won’t push you. I want you here, and the kids want you here, so when you feel ready to come home, we can work this out. I love you, Theo. I always have, and I always will.”

The red panda flew out of the window, and Sadie slumped back against her pillows.

“Sleep,” Hermione advised.

“Stay,” Sadie pleaded, reaching out for Hermione.

Hermione looked at Draco. He nodded, so she climbed into bed next to her best friend, the calming draught had an instant effect because Sadie was already drifting off.

“I might have an idea,” Draco said with a frown, “If the house is the issue…just leave it with me. Okay?”

Hermione opened her mouth to question him, but before she could, another silver creature flew into the room. This time it was a large stag.

“ _Another body. It’s Julian Crouch’s, meet me at Crouch Manor as soon as you can.”_

The Patronus disappeared, and Draco looked at his wife.

“Go,” Hermione said, “But before you do, move Ella and Cas into the spare room across the hall.”

Draco sighed, “We need to start living in the same house. There would be far less disruption for the kids.”

“I know,” Hermione agreed, “Will I see you in the morning?”

“I doubt it,” Draco said apologetically, “I’m sorry.”

“I understand,” Hermione said simply, “Go.”

* * *

“This blows our whole theory out of the water,” Harry said with a sigh, “She isn’t going for ‘the honourable’ members of the Wizengamot first. Julian was a Baron.”

“She’s just going for purebloods, there’s no rhyme or reason to it,” Draco agreed. They stood in the shadows of Crouch House looking at the body of Julian.

“He was killed in his own home, like the Fawley’s,” Harry said.

“Temporal disruption charm again,” Draco said, “We could tell people to change their wards, but unless they are very paranoid they won’t do it. Nobody is on the ball enough to change their wards every 24 hours.”

“I do,” Harry confessed, “And Neville does.”

“So do I,” Draco said, “And I’ve always done Sadie and Theo’s at the same time, but not everyone is as paranoid as us. The reality is that the people who don’t do that are more liable to break-ins because their wards can be tampered with.”

“It’s a bit late to be telling Julian that.”

“The crime scene is the same as every other one,” Draco said with a shake of his head, “Bullet to the head, executed against a wall. A cryptic muggle quote looming eerily above the body…”

“ _Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere_ ,” Harry read aloud, “What do you think that’s about?”

“I think it means that she’s not happy with what we’ve done since the war,” Draco confessed, “She’s a Ravenclaw, a highly logical one. She’s probably a perfectionist, and perhaps she thinks that what we’ve done isn’t enough. We all joined the Wizengamot, we made it fairer, and we pushed through laws that have helped a lot of people but the Wizengamot still makes the decisions, not the people.”

“She’s a communist,” Harry muttered, “A militant communist.”

“I know enough about muggle history to know that’s bad,” Draco confessed.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Harry said. He sighed and looked at Draco properly, “Are you alright? You look knackered.”

“No, I’m not alright,” Draco admitted as he and Harry left the crime scene together, “We had an incident tonight.”

They stopped in the front garden and looked up at the moon together; it was almost full.

“Robs going to need us to pull our heads out of our arses and help him through his first moon soon,” Harry reminded Draco, “Regardless of what else is going on.”

“I know, and I’ll be there,” Draco promised, “But I do need to fill you in on what happened tonight. We’re partners now, we keep each other in the loop, and we don’t keep secrets.”

Harry frowned at his friend, “What happened?”

“Theo had a nightmare,” Draco said quietly, “And in his sleep, he grabbed Sadie by the throat. He woke up before he could do too much damage, but everyone got a fright. Hermione and I had just managed to calm Sadie down when your Patronus came through, and Theo is with Neville.”

“Oh shit,” Harry sighed, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Draco said quietly, “It’s the job. We all knew that there were going to be times when it wasn’t convenient, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“Still, is Sadie okay?” Harry asked.

Draco shook his head, “She’s struggling, we all are. But I have an idea, and I hope it’s going to help…”

“Are you going to fill me in on your idea?” Harry asked curiously.

“Not yet,” Draco confessed.

“Fair enough,” Harry yawned, “Let’s go home. Justin isn’t going to come in to work on Julian’s body in the middle of the night, and there’s no use in us dragging ourselves through the same case files that we’ve already read twenty times. I’ll see you bright and early in the morning, and with any luck, maybe the others will be able to see a pattern here.”

Draco didn’t look hopeful, “Goodnight then.”

Harry bowed his head, “Draco?”

The blond man turned around, “Yeah?”

“Check the wards on number 11 and number 12 before you go to sleep tonight,” Harry said, “Just in case.”

Draco nodded, “You too, Harry.”

* * *

The following morning, Harry showed up in the office with a bag of baked goods and a tray of decent coffee, “Holy shit, he went to Starbucks. Who died last night?” Jason asked.

“How do you know that I only go to Starbucks when shit is getting real?” Harry asked the Auror in amusement.

“I worked CPS with Rob for two years, he likes to talk,” Jason answered with a grin.

Harry shook his head in amusement, “Speaking of Rob, Draco and I can’t be on call tomorrow night because we’re helping him through his first full moon so if Lucia strikes again, Jason and Terry, I’ll need you guys to step up.”

“Yes, sir,” Terry said.

“Secondly, drop the sir shit, all of you,” Harry said as he grabbed a pastry out of the bag, “Even you baby Aurors. We’re colleagues, and if we do things right, we’ll become friends. I’m Harry, that’s Draco, okay?”

They all nodded.

“And yes, Rob is right,” Harry continued, “I brought you coffee because someone died last night. Lucia’s latest victim was Julian Crouch, and the crime scene was no different from the rest. Just as I suspect that the evidence on the body won’t bring anything new and ground-breaking to light. This is her seventh victim; she doesn’t slip up; she doesn’t make mistakes which means that we need to get smarter.”

“The character profiler has narrowed down her future victims,” Draco said, flipping the board with a flick of his wrist, “But who is she going to target _next_? Because getting all of these people to go into a safe house is not feasible. Some will trust us, but some won’t. Inevitably, one will go to the Prophet, and there will be anarchy.”

The family names on the board were…

“Abbott,

Corner,

Cornfoot,

Greengrass,

Jones,

MacMillan,

Parkinson,

Perks,

Slughorn,

Smith.”

“The character profiler identified my family as a target?” Ben asked, “I thought she wasn’t attacking the family of Aurors?”

“There’s a chance that Lucia doesn’t know that you’re an Auror which is why the Smiths are included on there,” Harry told Ben, “You started in the department after she showed her hand. We can put your family into a safe house if you can convince them.”

Ben snorted, “That’ll be the day.”

“Maybe tell them to refresh their wards every 24 hours then? Just to be on the safe side,” Harry said.

Ben nodded in response.

Terry was looking at the board intently, “Can I suggest a different approach?”

“Of course,” Draco replied, “What’s your idea?”

“She tends to go after easy victims; people that are older or isolated. Or people who are just not very experienced fighters,” Terry said, “So what if we write down the people who are most closely associated with each family?”

“Go for it,” Draco said.

Harry nodded, “Starting with the Abbotts. We’ve got Howard and Hannah Abbott; then there is her husband Hamish and Howard’s ward, Nina Frost.”

“It’s just a feeling,” Draco said with a slight frown, “But I don’t think she will kill children.”

“No, I don’t think she will either,” Harry confessed, “I think she’ll take them in and indoctrinate them, but the Abbotts do require a higher level of protection because Hannah is pregnant.”

“You can get them into a safe house, surely?” Draco asked Harry, “You and Howie are chums.”

Harry shot Draco a long-suffering look, “Yes, we run Lupin House together so I can probably get him to listen to me. I’ll talk to him later today. Shall we move on to the Corner family?”

“We have Michael Corner Senior and Junior,” Draco said, “But what about Mary-Anne Corner? She married a muggle-born.”

“They live in the wizarding world,” Terry mused, “I would still class them as at risk.”

“It does make it unlikely to be the Corners though, doesn’t it?” Harry said, “Michael and Mary-Anne, both of their partners and their children are all still alive. That’s quite the massacre.”

Jason nodded, “I would agree with you there, Harry. The Cornfoot’s could be a target though, Stefan and his wife are virtually all that’s left.”

“In name maybe,” Draco said with a frown, “But the Cornfoot’s had a lot of girls, and I think there are too many Aurors connected to that family for Lucia to touch it.”

“Agreed,” Harry returned, “Everyone knows that Rob’s ex, Gaia, was a Cornfoot and isn’t Auror Miller’s mother a Cornfoot too?”

Draco nodded.

Terry put a faint line through both ‘Corner’ and ‘Cornfoot’. Then he looked at Harry, “Do you think she will go after the Greengrass family, Harry?”

“Not if she knows what’s good for her,” Harry said darkly, “Cygnus is my father-in-law and his wife is Draco’s mother. She would have to be very stupid or very desperate to make a move as bold as that.”

“We have also told my mother and Cygnus of the danger, and they have agreed to go into a safe house,” Draco added.

Terry nodded and scored the name off, “What about the Jones family? Matthias holds the Wizengamot seat and I believe his wife has passed away.”

“Yeah, she died when their daughter Megan was young,” Owen said.

All eyes turned to him, and he shrugged, “She was in Hufflepuff a few years above me. I kind of fancied her.”

“Isn’t she married to Ernie now?” Draco asked Harry.

Harry nodded, “Yeah, Justin whined about it for a while. It was an arranged marriage. Before Justin got together with Terry, Ernie used to show up in the morgue periodically.”

Ben made a face, “They had sex in the morgue?”

“More than once,” Harry said with a shake of his head, “Neville walked in on them one time.”

“Disgusting, but off-topic,” Draco said, trying to bring the bullpen under control once more.

“True,” Harry said, “Matthias’s wife was a Bones. She died in the 1981 massacre that only Susan and her aunt Amelia survived. Matthias is a traditionalist, and he’s on his own because his daughter lives with her husband and their children so yes, I would say that he’s a target.”

“That moves us onto MacMillan,” Terry said, “He lives with his wife and their two children. His parents are both dead.”

“Is she really going to orphan two young kids?” Jason asked, “After what _she_ went through?”

“We don’t know how she thinks, Jason,” Harry said, “We don’t know how ruthless she is, so we will have to warn the MacMillans. I do think that they will heed our advice and go into hiding, though.”

Terry looked back to the board, “Surely the Parkinson’s are at risk? It’s only been Oberon and Hyacinth since Pansy passed away.”

Draco nodded, “Certainly at risk, they are older _and_ isolated.”

“I think the Perks might be at risk too,” Harry confessed, “Gareths wife died a few weeks after Sally-Anne was born. She was killed by Voldemort personally.”

“Who was her mother?” Jason asked curiously.

“A very talented Auror by the name of Dorcas Meadows,” Harry replied, “She was one of the best duellers of the first war according to Rob and Shep. Gareth’s sister married a Bulstrode, and during the war, they fled with their daughter Millicent. Nobody has seen them since.”

“Does Annie still live at home?” Draco asked.

Harry shook his head, “She married Wayne Hopkins recently, and she has literally _just_ given birth. I saw it in the Prophet last week; they had a little girl called Poppy.”

“So if she’s going for the family, she’ll probably only kill Gareth,” Draco realised.

Harry nodded, “And then there’s Slughorn. I’d like to think because he was Lucia’s professor, she wouldn’t target him, but that’s no guarantee. He is the last in his line, and he is isolated and elderly.”

“Right,” Terry said. He took a step back from the board, “So our possible next targets are…the Abbotts who you are going to get into a safe house, yeah Harry?”

“Agreed.”

“The Greengrass’s who are already in a safe house,” Terry continued, “Matthias Jones, the Macmillans-”

“Who I will also try and get in a safe house,” Harry interjected.

Terry nodded, “The Parkinson’s who-”

“I’ll talk to them,” Draco said simply, “And I’ll talk to Slughorn too.”

“Terry, Jason, would you guys mind having a frank chat with Matthias Jones and Gareth Perks? Tell them what’s going on and what we can do to help, with any luck we’ll get them into a safe house,” Harry said.

Both men nodded, and Ben sighed, “If only we could charm all of these peoples houses to alert us if Lucia went there. It would be a damn sight easier, wouldn’t it?”

Harry frowned.

Owen laughed, “Or have a magical map of the UK up there that showed us where all witches and wizards were all of the time, eh? We’d never let a murderer get away again.”

Harry grabbed Draco by the wrist and pulled him into a corner of the room, “The Marauders Map!”

“What?” Draco whispered.

“My dad made the Marauders Map,” Harry said in a whisper, “A complex map of Hogwarts, yes, but what if we wanted to recreate it on a much smaller scale? What if we had a map of the house and grounds of every target? A map that showed us who was there, even if they were under a disguise?”

“Harry, that kind of magic…” Draco trailed off, “It doesn’t require a lot of power, but it does require a lot of skill and intellect.”

“I know,” Harry said, “It took my dad, Sirius and Remus years to make that map. That was three great minds who were still in their formative years, but right now we just need one great mind. One great mind that is struggling to find a purpose right now.”

Draco’s eyes widened, “Theo!”

“Do you think he could do it?”

“I know he could do it,” Draco said honestly, “But he won’t talk to me, so you’ll have to go to Longbottom House and ask him.”

“I will,” Harry said, he grabbed Draco’s shoulder and smiled supportively, “But just give him time, and he’ll come home.”

Draco nodded. They turned back to the other Aurors in the bullpen and began barking out orders.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	22. Keep My Head Above Water

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:
> 
> Head Above Water by Avril Lavigne.

When Harry walked into Longbottom House, he called, “Nev! Are you actually here or are you at my house?”

“I’m in the kitchen!”

Harry walked into the kitchen and grinned, “And you’re making coffee, how’s that for good timing?”

Neville chuckled, “You’re here in working hours. What’s going on?”

“A work thing,” Harry shrugged, “How are you?”

“Tired,” Neville said, pouring out his coffee and reaching to get another mug. He winced a little but reached the mug all the same, “And a little sore.”

“Did Theo hurt you last night?” Harry asked sharply.

“You know he’s here?”

“Yeah, Draco told me last night,” Harry said offhandedly.

“Last night?” Neville questioned.

“At a crime scene,” Harry shot back, “Why else would I be hanging out with him at 3 am?”

Neville snorted, “Fair point, and no. Theo didn’t hurt me, he did get angry, but he didn’t try and duel me or anything.”

“Is he still here?”

Neville nodded, “I’ve got him working out in the greenhouse. When his hands are busy, his mind doesn’t run wild.”

“It’s weird,” Harry said with a sigh, “This whole thing, you know? You and him, and me Draco. It just doesn’t feel right.”

Neville handed him a cup of coffee, “Harry, are you jealous?”

“No,” Harry lied.

Neville raised an eyebrow at him.

“Maybe a little bit,” Harry muttered, “I feel guilty when Draco and I start bantering; it’s like I’m cheating on you.”

Neville laughed, “It’s okay if you two get on well enough to banter. Actually, it’s good. I’d rather you were that way because then I know he’ll always have your back, now that I can’t.”

“Hey,” Harry said softly, “Auror partner or not, you’ll always have my back, Nev. I mean we’re literally going to have back to back Manors soon.”

“Yeah,” Neville said, smiling sheepishly, “I’m looking forward to that a bit more than I maybe should.”

“Ah well, so am I, so we’re in the same boat,” Harry shrugged. He sipped his coffee and sighed, “This is fucking heaven.”

“I know, I remember how dreadful the coffee in the department is,” Neville snorted.

Harry chuckled and looked over as the backdoor opened, and Theo walked in with mud on his boots and in his fingernails. His hair was messy; he was wearing old jeans and a baggy top. Harry didn’t think he had ever seen him look less refined.

When Theo saw Harry, he rolled his eyes, “I don’t answer Draco’s messages, so he sends his new boyfriend to come and talk to me?”

Harry shook his head, “Why do you assume the world revolves around you? I’m just spending my lunch break drinking coffee with my boyfriend.”

Neville snorted into his coffee, “No, you’re not. You asked about Theo before you started making small talk with me. You obviously want to talk to him about something.”

“Well if it’s to tell me to go home, you can fuck off,” Theo said irritably.

“I’m not here to tell you to go home. I came here to ask for your help, but if that’s the kind of attitude you’ve got, I guess you won’t be much use,” Harry said with a shrug, “I’ll have to find someone else I guess. I’m not sure if there is anyone else who _can_ do it, but I’ll have to find out.”

He put his coffee down and said, “Thanks for the coffee, Nev.”

Neville hid his smirk behind his coffee mug as Harry walked towards the door.

“Wait a second,” Theo said quickly, “What do you need help with, exactly?”

“I need someone to help me with extremely complex magic,” Harry replied, leaning in the doorway, “It doesn’t require much power, but it does require a lot of intellect. Shep told me to put my best Auror on it, and I told him that my best Auror was out of action right now, so he asked me how you felt about working from home.”

“I’m not your best Auror,” Theo scoffed.

“You are the smartest Auror in that department,” Harry said simply, “I’m not bigging you up to make you feel better. That’s the kind of shit I do for Nev, not you.”

Theo raised an eyebrow at him, “What kind of magic are we talking about?”

“You know the map I have of Hogwarts?” Harry asked.

“Yeah…” Theo said.

“I need lots of them, on a much smaller scale. I need about twenty; each one would have a basic outline of a house and the grounds surrounding that house. I would need it to show the names of everyone on those grounds at any given point. I would need it to see through disguises, and I would need some form of alarm on it so that when the name Lucia Cross came up, we were alerted.”

Theo frowned as he considered this.

“I asked Draco if he thought you were up to the task because I knew he would tell me the truth,” Harry said calmly, “And he said that he knew you could do it by yourself but that you would run yourself into the ground without help, so I suspect it will take all of you and a little bit of Lilly.”

“It had better be a tiny bit of Lilly,” Neville warned Harry, “She’s struggling enough with work right now.”

“Yeah, how pregnant is she exactly?” Theo asked curiously.

“How do you know?” Neville asked in surprise.

“Worked it out this morning,” Theo admitted, “She looked green, and she was eating banana and chocolate on toast.”

“She does that when she’s not pregnant,” Harry retorted, “She’s a freak.”

Neville sniggered but didn’t deny it, “She’s about six weeks pregnant Theo. So keep it to yourself, it’s still early days.”

Theo nodded, “Of course.”

“So,” Harry said, looking at Theo, “Can you do it?”

Theo nodded, “I can do it, but I can’t work out of the Auror department.”

“I wouldn’t ask you to,” Harry promised him, “But I can give you any Aurors you want to help you with it.”

Theo shook his head, “I will need help but not from anyone in the department, or Lilly.”

Harry frowned.

“I’ll need to work out of Potter Manor,” Theo said, “From the drawing-room where the portrait of the Marauders is.”

Harry’s eyes widened, “Of course!”

Theo smiled slightly, “And for every map that you want me to make, I’ll need a map of the estate, including blueprints of the house.”

“I’m on it,” Harry said with a smile, “I’ll start gathering stuff now, and I’ll have it to you by tonight. I hate to put pressure on you Theo, but we need these done as soon as possible to try and avoid any more deaths.”

Theo nodded, “I understand.”

“You’re brilliant,” Harry said, “But I need to get back to work. Thank you!”

As Harry’s footsteps echoed throughout the entrance hall, Neville looked over at Theo, “He just played you good.”

“Yeah,” Theo agreed with a frown, “He did, didn’t he?”

“He’s been married to Daphne for too long,” Neville said.

“Speaking of Daphne,” Theo said quietly, “Would you come with me to Potter Manor? I want to talk to the Marauders about how they made the map before Harry dumps hundreds of documents on me, but I don’t trust her not to hit me or curse me for running out on Sadie.”

“That’s probably fair,” Neville said, putting his empty coffee cup down and grabbing his cane.

“You using the chair at all now?” Theo asked.

“Not much,” Neville answered, “The Healers have said that I should keep walking as much as possible now that things are starting to heal up. Half an hour round the lake does me in and I need to sleep mind you.”

Theo chuckled as they left the kitchen together, “We’re both old before our time. Me in my head, and you in your body.”

Neville smiled sadly, “I think I’ve got it better than you. I’ll need this for the rest of my life though,” he indicated to the cane.

Theo shrugged, “You’ll just be Professor Longbottom, the weird Herbology professor with a limp and a cane. I bet the older girls will fancy you. They’ll think you have a mysterious aura and a tragic back story that you keep close to your chest.”

Neville snorted, “Thanks for the backhanded compliment, Theo.”

Theo smiled, “You know, talking about me being old in my head…I kept having a dream last night. Over and over again, no matter how many times I woke up.”

“A dream, not a nightmare?”

“A dream,” Theo nodded, “I was a wary old traveller. I was walking down this road, shoes worn out and all. Then there was a flash of white light, and it was my wedding day,” a small smile slipped onto his face, “And Sadie was smiling at me…there was music playing. Draco had his arm around my shoulder, and Hermione was trying to convince me to give her a piggyback because her feet hurt.”

“I remember that,” Neville laughed.

Theo shook his head, “And when I woke up this morning, I thought maybe my brain was trying to tell me something, so I remembered that moment. That _golden_ moment of pure happiness, and I cast a Patronus.”

“And it worked?” Neville guessed.

“A fully corporeal Patronus,” Theo said thoughtfully, “But it had changed form.”

“To what, a red panda?” Neville wondered because that was what Sadie’s Patronus was.

Theo shook his head, “A dragon.”

Neville paused in the library. He leant against a bookshelf, “A dragon?”

“I know,” Theo said, “I know what it means but…it’s not that easy. I miss him, but I can’t trust him either.”

“He hasn’t done anything wrong, Theo,” Neville began to say.

“He kissed Sadie at my wake,” Theo said dryly.

Neville shut his mouth, “Fair enough. I’m not going to get involved. It's between you four, and I know how I would feel if you or Draco tried to involve yourself in Harry and I’s friendship.”

“Thanks, Neville,” Theo said.

“Come on,” Neville said, pushing back the fur coats.

“What is this, fucking Narnia?”

“Yeah Lilly thought it would be funny to put the coats in,” Neville muttered. He shut his eyes and stepped through the wards, and Theo followed him.

When they stepped into the library, the door was locked. Neville held out his hand, and it swung open silently, “Daph! Are you in?”

“Yeah Nev, I need you in the kitchen!”

Theo followed Neville down a small set of stairs into the kitchen of Potter Manor, where Daphne was semi-decent.

“Can you please adjust this goddamn dress? I swear my boobs got even bigger after Thea than they did after Andie,” Daphne asked, shooting a look over her shoulder, “Hey Theo.”

Theo raised an eyebrow at them, “Domestic.”

Neville adjusted the strap on Daphne’s dress and smiled in amusement, “They probably are bigger, she drinks more milk so you’ll produce more, therefore bigger.”

“They are definitely bigger,” Theo mused.

“You,” Daphne said, glaring at Theo, “You don’t get to come in here and make suggestive comments.”

“Neville did.”

“No, Neville pointed out a biological fact and also, Neville didn’t walk out on his wife and children last night!” Daphne snapped.

“I haven’t walked out on them!” Theo snapped back, “I’m taking some time away from them to protect them! I could have killed Sadie last night, Daphne, I could have killed her!”

Daphne shook her head irritably, “So hiding out with Neville is the answer? Not locking you up at bedtime and taking your wand away?”

“Treating him like a werewolf is hardly the answer either, Daph,” Neville said with a sigh, “You seem stressed. Do you want a cuppa?”

“No, I want Harry to catch this bitch, so he doesn’t have to keep working nightshift!” Daphne snapped, “I’m so tired Neville. If he were here, I’d give Thea a bottle. I just need more than three hours of sleep, just once.”

Neville pulled her in for a hug. She wrapped her arms around his waist carefully as she hugged him back.

“I’d offer if I could, but movement is difficult at night,” Neville said apologetically, “My back seizes up.”

“I know, I wouldn’t expect it of you,” Daphne murmured, pulling back from the hug, “But Harry sees more of Draco than me right now. I was talking to Hermione about it this morning, and she feels the same. Between Cas waking her up for a feed and Draco waking her up with his nightmares, she’s barely sleeping.”

“Nightmares?” Theo asked with a frown.

“Yes Theo, if you had bothered to spend any time with your best friend since you came back from the dead you would know that he wakes up screaming your name more nights than not,” Daphne remarked irritably, “Because he’s reliving your death.”

Theo swallowed.

Neville tried to be the diplomat, “Theo, why don’t you go and chat to the portrait in the drawing-room? I’ll explain to Daphne and then bring you some coffee.”

Theo nodded and escaped from the kitchen.

“Daph, where are the kids?” Neville asked, “Ted’s at school, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, and Thea is napping,” Daphne yawned, “Al and Andie are in the playroom. One of the elves is keeping an eye on them.”

“I’ll watch them this afternoon,” Neville said, “Go back to bed and get some rest.”

“Are you sure?” Daphne asked, catching his eye.

Neville smiled, “Things are hard right now, and there’s a limit to what I can do to help. But I can sit and play with my god-kids, and Merlin knows, I need that right now.”

Daphne smiled and hugged him again, “You’re too good for us, Nev. We don’t deserve you,” she leant up and kissed him on the cheek.

Neville chuckled, “Theo needs to use your drawing-room for the next few days. He’s working on a project that should hopefully help Harry and Draco catch Lucia.”

“Why does it involve my drawing-room?” Daphne asked curiously.

“Harry wants him to create maps of the house of every Wizengamot member, in the style of the Marauders Map,” Neville explained.

“Ah,” Daphne nodded, “Right, that makes sense.”

“Keep him topped up with coffee and don’t nag him too much,” Neville said, “If we push too hard, he might never go home.”

“Yeah,” Daphne sighed.

“Go to bed,” Neville said, gently nudging her out of the kitchen.

“I’m going; I’m going.”

* * *

“Change of plan!”

All five Aurors who shared an office with Harry turned to look at him. He shut the door of the homicide bullpen and clapped his hands, “We’re not doing safehouses anymore. We’re doing surveillance instead.”

Terry frowned, “Surveillance?”

“Yep, we’re going to monitor the houses of everyone on the Wizengamot. I’ve got my best man on the job, but we can’t do anything without consent so here is consent from the Potter family and the Nott family. I’ll get consent from the Longbottom family too, and Draco, can you please fill this in to give consent from the Black family?”

Draco nodded and took the form that Harry was holding out for him.

“We’ll take a handful each and get on it because I want the consent forms in by close of play today,” Harry said firmly, “You need to go to these people and tell them about the danger. Don’t lie, don’t sugar-coat it. Let them know that they will die if they do not give consent and that we will be treating their personal information with great care. Am I clear?”

All of the Aurors nodded.

“Good,” Harry said, “Terry, take Ben with you and talk to the Corners, Cornfoots, Woods and Smiths.”

Both men nodded.

“Jason, take Owen with you and talk to the Jones’s, MacDougall’s, Macmillan’s and Perks.”

Jason and Owen nodded too.

“Draco, talk to the Zabinis, Slughorn’s, Parkinson’s, and Sorenson and Clara,” Harry instructed.

“I’ll talk to the Abbotts, Bones, Greengrass’s, Weasley’s and Shacklebolts,” Harry finished.

“So all of your friends basically?” Draco asked in disbelief.

Harry smirked, “Delegation.”

“We’re both in charge,” Draco reminded him.

“Nope, I’m Assistant Head, I trump you,” Harry joked as they all left the office together. They split up at the apparition point, but Harry hung back because he could tell that Draco wanted to talk to him.

“You okay?” Harry asked his partner.

Draco nodded, “How is he?”

“Who?”

“Theo,” Draco said as if it were obvious.

“Oh, he’s fine,” Harry said honestly, “He was a bit of a sarcastic prick about it, but he agreed to make the maps quickly enough.”

Draco frowned, “He’s fine?”

Harry opened his mouth then shut it, “I mean…well…yeah, he seemed okay.”

Draco swallowed and nodded, “Right. Well, I’ll catch up with you once I’ve spoken to everyone.”

Without another word, he disappeared from the corridor.

* * *

When Harry walked back into Potter Manor, he was armed with scrolls. Theo looked at him in disbelief as he dropped them on the table.

“A _few_ maps?”

“I said around twenty,” Harry pointed out, “This is what you asked for; a blueprint and map of the grounds of the home of each target. You can probably combine two households into one map mind you.”

“How?” Theo frowned.

“Because you and Draco live next door to each other so it would make sense to have both houses on one map,” Harry said as if this were obvious.

“Yeah…I suppose it does.”

“Are you okay, Theo?” Harry asked, noticing the distant look in Theo’s eyes.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Theo said, pulling the maps towards him, “But I had better get started if you want these done ASAP.”

* * *

“Theo is fine without me.”

Hermione turned around and fixed her husband with an irritated look, “Us.”

Draco sighed and leant against the kitchen counter, “Harry has him making maps in the style of the Marauders Map. It’s how we plan on catching Lucia; we’ll monitor the house of every target.”

“Is Theo up to that kind of magic?” Hermione asked sharply.

“Yes, because he’s _fine_ ,” Draco ground out, “Harry said he’s okay; he’s fine.”

Hermione bit her lip, “Draco, absence does tend to make the heart grow fonder. If we need to give him space for him to realise what he has then that’s just what we need to do.”

“And what about Sadie?” Draco snapped, “What about his fucking kids?”

“He can’t be the Father that Mina and Charlie need right now,” Hermione said quietly, “And he can’t be the husband that Sadie deserves. Theo is a perfectionist, and he can’t cope with being less than whole, with being less than enough.”

“He can’t just use that as an excuse to run away from everyone who cares about him!” Draco retorted, “It’s not fair on the people that are left behind!”

Hemione sighed and crossed the kitchen. She wrapped her arms around Draco and murmured, “I know that it isn’t, love, but there is nothing that we can do about it. If we stick our noses in where they aren’t wanted, we might just make things worse.”

Draco laughed humourlessly and pulled away from the hug, “Can things get worse?” he asked as he stalked away from her.

* * *

Harry stayed at work that night. He poured through files and drank his body weight in coffee. All the while, back at Potter Manor, Theo worked through the night too. By midday the following day, most of the Wizengamot members had given consent to be put under surveillance, but they were still struggling to get some onboard.

Harry had sent Draco to knock some sense (figuratively) into the remaining members, while he went to Potter Manor to check on Theo’s progress.

“Holy shit,” He uttered when he walked into his drawing-room.

Every inch of table space was occupied with maps. Each one had a quill scribbling away at it, and lying on his stomach on the floor was Theo. He had a piece of parchment with hundreds of equations in Ancient Runes on it. Next to him was an abandoned cup of coffee.

“The maps have nearly finished drawing themselves,” Theo said, “After that, I need to enchant them. I will need to add some finishing touches first though.”

“Why?” Harry asked with a frown.

“Because they are vague and messy-” Theo began to say.

“I don’t care how they look, Theo,” Harry snapped, “They aren’t works of art. I’m not going to hang them in the fucking bullpen and admire them like some shitty Van Gogh painting, am I? I just need them to be functional, so I can catch your bitch of a sister and feed her worthless soul to the Dementors!”

Theo nodded, “Okay. In that case, I’ll have them enchanted in a day, two max,” Theo said calmly.

“Good,” Harry said with a shake of his head, “Honestly, who do you think you are, Leonardo fucking Da Vinci?”

He stormed out of the drawing-room, and Daphne popped her head in, “Well, that was rude.”

“Yeah,” Theo said as he pushed himself to his feet and walked around the room, inspecting the maps, “That’s Harry when he’s in full-on work mode for you.”

Daphne raised an eyebrow, “And you just put up with that?”

“Yep.”

“I’d punch him,” Daphne admitted.

“And…” Theo grabbed a finished map, “That’s why you’re not an Auror.”

Daphne snorted, “Do you know what I am? An exhausted housewife with a husband whose being a bit shit right now. Do you know who else feels like that?”

“Shut up.”

“Sadie,” Daphne said slowly, “Sadie, your wife. Remember her?”

Theo shot her an irritated look, “Shut up.”

“Mina and Charlie, your kids. Ringing a bell?” Daphne asked coolly.

“I said, _shut up._ ”

“Go. Home. Theo,” Daphne said slowly, walking from the room and slamming the door behind her.

* * *

“Potter! Black!”

Harry and Draco ducked their heads out of the homicide bullpen.

“Yes, sir?” Draco said.

“Can we have a word in the office, guys?” John asked, holding open the door.

Harry and Draco shared a slightly concerned look but followed John into the Head Aurors office all the same. John shut the door behind them and sat down on the edge of his desk, “Just so you know, I do not expect to see either of you until the afternoon tomorrow.”

Harry frowned, “Uh, why, Shep?”

“Because I’m not stupid,” John said simply, “I know you’re planning on helping Rob through his first full moon tonight because you’re good people.”

Draco raised an eyebrow, “I just got roped into it by him.”

“I’m a good enough person for the both of us,” Harry said, grinning at Draco.

John chuckled, “It’s good to see you two getting on so well. I had my reservations about you being partners. I remember how much of a nightmare it was when you two worked together in training.”

“Ah, well, that was a long time ago,” Harry said, “We’ve both grown up a lot since then.”

“That much is clear,” John admitted. He looked at Harry, “How is Neville getting on by the way?”

“He’s doing well,” Harry admitted, “He doesn’t need to use the chair much anymore, and he’s gradually building up his walking. I think the most irritating part is not being able to bend or lift anything at the moment, he can’t do that until six weeks after his op, but he’s keeping himself busy.”

“Good,” John said, and he genuinely meant that. He turned to Draco and asked, “And how is Theo getting on?”

“I have no idea,” Draco said bitterly, “You would be better asking Harry, he’s seen more of him than I have.”

John raised an eyebrow at the two men.

“Draco and Theo are having some…difficulties…adapting,” Harry said evasively.

“Okay…” John said slowly, “Care to explain what that means?”

“He was tortured with a nightmare curse,” Draco shrugged, “In his nightmare world, I shagged his wife, and he killed me.”

“He’s having some trouble seeing past that,” Harry added, “Even though it’s obvious to everyone else that Draco wants to shag Theo, not his wife.”

“I do not want to shag Theo!” Draco snapped, “I just want my best friend back. You would too if it was Neville!”

“Back off, Harry,” John said firmly. He turned to Draco, “And I’m sorry to hear that it’s not all plain-sailing, Draco.”

Harry looked a little insulted at being told to back off.

John turned to look at him once more, “He’s right. If it was Neville, you would be a mess. If it was Rob, I would be a mess. We _need_ our best friend when we work in this job. We need someone who understands the life, who we can share the burden with because yes, we protect the wizarding world but at the expense of our own minds, our own families. You need your Auror partner to be your best friend, to be your support and right now, you are not supporting Draco. He’s obviously pissed off that you keep mentioning Theo so back off and leave well enough alone.”

Harry nodded, “I’m sorry, Draco. I’m a dick.”

“Yes, Harry, you are,” Draco agreed coolly.

John nodded, “Glad you two worked that one out. On you go, you’ve got work to do before you run around playing werewolves and dragons.”

Harry snorted, “And phoenixes.”

“Back to work.”

“Yes, sir.”

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	23. Bad Moon Rising

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: There's going to be more on werewolf!Rob later. The gang are kind of being dicks right now, what with Draco being distracted by Theo's messed up head and Harry worrying about Neville's health. They sort of sideline Rob for a while, but he will get the attention he deserves in later chapters, I promise!
> 
> The chapter title is from the song:  
> Bad Moon Rising by Credence Clearwater Revival

The atmosphere was tense at Longbottom House that evening. Harry had spoken to Rob, and they had decided that it was the best place for his transformation because no children were living there. Harry and Neville had managed to convince Lilly to stay at Potter Manor just in case, and Theo was still there obsessing over the maps.

That meant that only Neville would be in the house. Rob would transform in the woods on the Longbottom property. He wouldn’t be able to leave the wards and hurt anyone, so it seemed like the most sensible option.

“Just don’t break my greenhouse,” Neville joked when he handed them all coffee that evening.

Rob shook his head when Neville reached him. Despite telling everyone that he was okay, it was clear that right now he wasn’t. He was as white as a sheet with bloodshot eyes; he looked tired and terrified.

Harry looked out of the window at the sky which had just begun to darken. He jumped when the fireplace roared to life.

_“Floo Signature: John Sheppard.”_

Neville chuckled, “Access granted.”

The flames turned green, and John stepped into the drawing-room.

“Hey Shep,” Neville said simply.

John smiled, “Hey Neville, nice to see you out of the chair.”

“Nice to be out of it,” Neville agreed.

“Did you just come here to chat with Neville then?” Rob asked, looking up at John.

“Did I come here to chat with Neville?” John asked in disbelief, “How shit a friend do you think I am? Have you lot forgotten that I’m an Animagus too?”

Harry smiled slightly, “I did wonder when you pulled us into the office earlier,” he admitted.

“You’re going to transform with me?” Rob asked, meeting his eyes.

“Of course, I am.”

Rob really wasn’t an emotional person, but if there was ever an exception, it was tonight. He got to his feet and hugged John tightly, “Thanks, man.”

John patted him on the back and pulled back, “Hey, you’re going to need all of the help that you can get. What use is a dragon or a phoenix gonna be, eh? You need someone to run around with you, burn off some steam.”

“What is your Animagus form, Shep?” Draco asked curiously.

“You’ll find out soon,” John said, looking out at the night sky, “I suggest we transform and get out of here sooner rather than later.”

Draco nodded. He shut his eyes and transformed into a dragon then flew out of the patio doors towards the wooded area behind the house. Harry smiled sadly at Neville, who was looking at them longingly.

“Once you’re all healed up mate,” He murmured so that only Neville could hear.

John transformed next, and when Harry saw his Animagus form, he grinned, “A dog?”

“Makes sense, he’s a German Shepherd,” Neville said with a smile.

“But a dog,” Harry snorted, “It’s like Sirius and Remus all over again.”

“Except without the gayness,” Rob pointed out, “Come on, golden boy, get your feathers out.”

Neville chuckled as Harry transformed into a phoenix. Then, just to show off, he flashed himself over to the woods.

Rob rolled his eyes, “Oh look at me I’m a big golden bastard of a bird, but I don’t need to use my wings, I just flash away when I feel like it because I’m a poncy wee shit.”

Neville chortled, “Good luck Rob. I’ll keep an eye out from in here, and Lil will be on hand to heal anyone who needs it in the morning.”

“Thanks, Neville,” Rob said, patting him on the back and heading over to the woods with the others.

Once they were gone, Neville locked the house up and sat in the bay window of the master bedroom so he could keep an eye on his friends. It was all he could do right now, but it made him feel better. He winced as he watched Rob’s painful transformation, the howl would be heard for miles no doubt. When it was done, he ran into the woods with a German Shepherd, a dragon and a phoenix in tow.

“That’s officially the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen,” Neville muttered as he sipped his coffee.

* * *

“Theo, you need to sleep,” Lilly commanded.

“No, no, I need to finish the maps,” Theo said as he tried not to rub his eyes.

“You’ll be useless if you don’t sleep,” Lilly pointed out.

“No, I’ll be fine. I wouldn’t sleep anyway; I can’t,” Theo said offhandedly.

“You’re bloody impossible,” Daphne snapped, “You need to sleep, and you need to go home!”

“I won’t go home as long as there’s a door to Draco’s fucking house, okay?” Theo snapped, spinning around to look at the two women.

“Why?”

“Because I hate him!”

“Okay, _why_ do you hate him?” Daphne asked irritably.

“Because every time I look at his smug little face, I picture him fucking my wife, okay?” Theo barked.

“He didn’t do it!” Daphne shouted, losing her temper with him, “You hate him for something that he did not do, that’s pathetic. Do you have any idea how pathetic that is?”

Before Theo could answer, Lilly added, “The only person at fault while you were ‘dead’ was Sadie. She was the one who lost it and kissed Draco at _your wake_. Draco didn’t want that, Hermione lost her shit and Harry missed the birth of his child. You of all people know how shit that is, so stop being a selfish bastard for five minutes and put yourself in someone else’s shoes!”

“You,” Daphne said, pointing at Lilly, “Sit on your arse and bring your blood pressure down and you!” she pointed at Theo, “Talk to the portrait behind you because if anyone is in a position to tell you how stupid you are being right now, it’s Sirius Black!”

“Oi!” Portrait Sirius objected.

Daphne turned her furious glare to the portrait, “It’s the truth, isn’t it? Tell him the story about you and Remus.”

“Right, don’t want to piss off the mistress of the house,” Portrait Sirius winked at Daphne, “So I’ll tell you the story mate. It’s depressing as fuck though, and you probably don’t want to hear the sexy bits.”

“Sirius!” Portrait Lily cringed.

Daphne hooked her arm through Lilly’s and said, “We’re going to bed. And if you have any sense, you will get some goddamn sleep tonight Theodore Nott.”

The two women left the room, shutting the door after them. Theo threw himself into an armchair and looked up pointedly, “Come on then, what’s the story?”

“Nah, I want to hear your story first,” Sirius said. He sat down in an armchair in the Gryffindor Common Room backdrop of the portrait.

Theo sighed, “Draco and I were best friends as kids and in Hogwarts. I mean we’ve always been more than friends but not in a gay way, we’ve not been together or anything. It’s complicated,” he shrugged, “Anyway, I was captured and put under a nightmare curse. In that world, I lived a whole life even though I was only unconscious for a few days. Draco slept with my wife and got her pregnant. I lost my temper and accidentally killed her. Then when I woke up, everyone expected things to go back to normal but it didn’t, and I can’t look at Draco the same way anymore. Nobody understands what’s going on in my head. It didn’t feel like a nightmare; it felt like ten years. I literally feel ten years older, and I have ten years of memories that didn’t happen.”

Sirius nodded, “Yeah, sounds familiar.”

“Were you under a nightmare curse too?” Theo asked sharply.

“No, I _lived_ my nightmare world,” Sirius said calmly, “Twelve years in Azkaban. Twelve years to think and overthink. Twelve years to think about how the man I loved hadn’t fought for me. He had just believed, like everyone else, that I had killed our best friends, that I was capable of that.”

Theo swallowed, “You were angry at Remus?”

“Angry?” Sirius scoffed, “I was bloody fuming, I hated him. I had years to seethe, and the more I did that, the more my hatred and bitterness towards him grew.”

“How did you deal with it?” Theo asked, watching the portrait with interest.

“I got out, and at first, I was happy to see Remus,” Sirius admitted, “But then once that wave of fond familiarity was gone, I was left with the bitterness. Remus and I argued about it and had sex, not the emotional ‘I’ve missed you because it’s been twelve years’ kind of sex either, but angry ‘I want you and I hate that I do, but I need this’ sex.”

Theo made a face, “You said no sexy details.”

“Sorry kid but you kind of needed to know that bit,” Sirius shrugged, “After the sex, we talked, and he wanted to fix things. He wanted to gain my trust back, to try and make it work, but I was too bitter and angry to let him. We never got back together, we had an unhealthy sexual relationship, but we weren’t in love like we had been before I went to Azkaban.”

Theo frowned down at his hands.

“If I had just let go, we could have had two great years before I died,” Sirius continued, “But instead, I pushed him away. I pushed him into my cousin's arms, and he married her. I lost so much because of my bitterness.”

Theo didn’t say anything.

“And if you carry on like this, you’ll lose Draco too.”

“It’s different,” Theo shrugged, “He’s not my boyfriend, he’s just my best friend.”

“You sure about that?” Sirius asked, cocking his head at Theo.

Theo hesitated, but then said, “Yeah, I’m sure of that, and I need to finish these maps, so could you please talk me through the last few charms?”

Sirius sighed but nodded, “I can, but the last two are the most difficult ones. You’ll need to imbue each map with an anti-intruder ward tied with Lucia’s magical signature. Then you will need to put a Homonculous Charm on the map to track the movements of the occupants, that’s the trickiest spell because most methods of concealment or disguise cannot fool it…”

* * *

Lilly was awake early the morning after the full moon. She had been woken up at 6 am when Thea decided to scream the house down because she was hungry even though Daphne had fed her half an hour earlier.

The minute Lilly woke up, she had started throwing up, and by the time she felt moderately human, she was too awake to go back to sleep. That was how she found herself nursing a cup of tea and nibbling at a gingernut biscuit at 6.30 am when Neville walked through the open vanishing cabinet in the library, “Lil?”

She got to her feet and walked out into the entrance hall, “Do you need me?”

Neville nodded, “Yeah, Harry and Draco are okay, but Rob and Shep aren’t doing too great.”

Lilly yawned and followed him through the wardrobe into Longbottom House. The four men were scattered around the drawing-room, and the bright orange sun was rising on the east side of the house.

“What happened?” Lilly asked, surveying Rob and John while opening up a medical cabinet in the corner of the room.

“Rob attacked himself,” Harry answered, “Shep tried to stop him.”

“Harry cried on them both, but it just seemed to close the wound, not heal it,” Neville added.

Draco was sitting in an armchair, virtually asleep.

Lilly knelt in front of Rob, “Even the tear of a phoenix can’t heal a cursed wound, and that’s what werewolf-inflicted wounds are,” she crushed a few things into a bowl, added some water and swirled her wand above it, turning it into a cream. She placed her finger into the cream and gently dabbed it on the two long scars on Rob’s face.

“So they’ll stay?” Rob asked.

“This will help them fade,” Lilly said, “But yes, they’ll stay.”

Rob winced as Lilly caught a little bit which was still open. The two scars marked the left side of his face, from just above his eyebrow, down to his collarbone.

“Just makes you more ruggedly handsome,” Harry said, patting Rob on the back.

Rob laughed weakly, “Hope Jen thinks so, eh?”

“Jen loves you for who you are,” John said, trying to suppress a yawn, “She’s not going to give a shit if you’ve got a couple more scars.”

Rob looked at his best friend guiltily, “I’m so sorry, mate.”

“You weren’t in your right mind, don’t worry about it,” John said with a tired smile, “I’m sure you’ve done worse in a bar fight.”

Lilly pushed herself to her feet and raised an eyebrow at him, “We’ll see about that, take your shirt off.”

John pulled his blood-stained t-shirt off, and Rob winced at the four long wounds that stretched from just below John's shoulder down to his navel.

“If you say that doesn’t hurt, you’re lying,” Lilly said, crossing her arms and staring him down, “You might be the Head Auror, but I can still see through your big man act. What’s your pain level?”

“Eight,” John admitted.

Lilly sighed and shook her head, “You Aurors are hellbent on killing yourself with stubbornness,” she muttered, casting a diagnostic charm on John’s chest. It scanned him then a red glow surrounded his torso and flashed.

“That’s bad,” John noted.

“Yeah Shep, you’re internally bleeding,” Neville said in disbelief, “That’s bad.”

“But you _will_ be fine,” Lilly said firmly, “So no guilt-tripping yourself Rob. John, you and I are going for a little trip to St. Mungos. Can someone floo Liz and let her know that her husband is an idiot?”

“I’ll do it,” Rob said, pushing himself to his feet.

“No, you’ll go home to Jen,” Neville ordered, “I’ll floo Liz. Are you going to be okay getting John to the hospital Lilly?”

“I’ll be fine,” Lilly said, “Don’t worry about me.”

Neville nodded. It was clear that he _was_ worried, but he said no more on the subject as Lilly left with John.

Rob thanked them all for helping him through the night and left too. Harry was just about to wake Draco up so that he could go home and sleep. Then a Patronus bounded into the room.

It spoke with the voice of Aiden Ford, “ _Hey Harry. We just got a memo in, that’s another body dropped in your Lucia case. It’s Matthias Jones, they found him in the greenhouse attached to his Manor.”_

Harry kicked the sofa, irritably, “I’m fucking knackered! I’ve been awake for nearly 42 hours, and I want to go to my goddamn bed! I don’t want to deal with this fucking cow right now! Why does she always murder people at inconvenient times? Is she just doing it to piss me off?”

“Harry,” Neville said firmly, “Say no.”

“What? But I can’t-”

“You _can,”_ Neville said, “And you have to. Look at Draco.”

Harry sighed, Draco was fast asleep in an armchair.

“You are both exhausted,” Neville said softly, “And you’re in charge now, that means you need to delegate. You can’t take everything on by yourself. You have a team that you like and trust. Send Terry and Jason in, or let them take the baby Aurors along too. But _you_ need to go home, and Draco does too.”

Harry took a shaky breath but nodded, “Yeah, I do. You’re right, Nev.”

“I know.”

Harry conjured up a Patronus. It made Neville anxious to see how much of a struggle that was for his best friend because it was a spell that he usually performed flawlessly.

He spoke clearly, “Matthias Jones is dead. Draco and I can’t attend but take Ben and Owen along. If there’s anything there, you four will find it.”

His Stag even looked lethargic as it sauntered out of the window.

“Home,” Neville ordered.

“Home,” Harry sighed longingly.

* * *

By the time Harry woke up from his nap, it was just gone midday. When he walked into the drawing-room of Potter Manor, it was to find Theo flaked on a sofa with a pile of parchment on one of the desks close to him. Atop the pile was a note which simply said, _“They are ready_.”

Harry grinned, _finally_ their luck was beginning to look up. He bundled all of the parchment up and put it in his bag then he called, “I’m going into work Daphne! Theo finished the maps so I’ll probably be home late tonight!”

Without waiting for a response, he left the house and hurried to the ministry. When he materialised at the apparition point within the department, Harry jogged into the bullpen, and he was pleased when he realised that Draco was already there.

“The maps are ready,” Harry said eagerly, “So _please_ tell me that you managed to get consent from each family?”

“We did,” Terry assured him.

“All of them?” Harry asked, turning around in surprise.

“Every single one,” Jason confirmed.

“Even the Smiths?” Harry asked. He was amazed by that, “How the fuck did we get them on board? I swear, I could kiss whoever managed to convince them.”

“No offence sir but you’re really not my type,” Ben joked with a slight smirk,

The others sniggered, and Harry shot Ben a grin, “Oi, less cheek Benedict.”

“You are in a remarkably good mood,” Draco mused.

“That’s because I slept for the first time in two days this morning, and we’re finally somewhere close to catching this bitch,” Harry said as he began to pin the maps up on the board in alphabetical order.

They were rudimentary, but they would do the job just fine. The map of Abbott Castle simply showed the perimeter wall and a basic floor plan of the ground floor. There were four black dots on the map; each one had a name next to it in spindly writing.

“Abbott Castle, home to Howard Abbott who runs Lupin House with me,” Harry said. He pinned up the next map, “Bones Manor, the home of Percy Weasley, one of our own.”

“Cherry End,” Draco said as the next map went up, “The home of a man who taught all of us at Hogwarts. We owe it to Slughorn to protect him.”

“Greengrass House,” Harry said, “The home of my father-in-law, and Draco’s mother.”

“Grimmauld Place,” Draco said, “Number 11, the home of recuperating Auror Theodore Nott and number 12, _my_ home.”

“High Top House,” Harry said, “The ancestral home of Blanche and Blaine Zabini, two of our own.”

He pinned up another map, “Ivy House, the Corner residence.”

The next map was a familiar one, “Longbottom House, the home of my former Auror partner and best friend, Neville, who is still recuperating from the injury he sustained in the raid that saved Theo.”

The other Aurors watched silently as Harry continued, “MacDougall Castle, MacMillan House, Oak End – the Cornfoot residence.”

“Parkinson Manor,” Harry stuck it on the board, “And Potter Manor, my home.”

“Rose Lodge, the Perks residence,” Harry continued, “Selwyn House, the home of two of our own, Sorenson and Clara Cauldwell. Shacklebolt House, the home of our Minister for Magic.”

Harry didn’t have many maps left to go now, “The Burrow, the Weasley family home. The Willows, the Smith family home and Wood Villa, another two which are the homes of our people.”

He turned to the Aurors, “These maps are invaluable, but they are also a huge invasion to the privacy of many people within this department, and within the ministry more widely. That door – must always stay locked – and two of us must always stay in this room.”

The bullpen was silent as Harry lay down the law, “Nobody else can see these maps. We only need them because they are pertinent to our investigation. We have the lives, and reputations of the most influential people in the Wizengamot in our hands right now. I trust you all to take that seriously, but if _any_ of you betray that trust, you will not be working in Homicide for much longer.”

It was apparent to all of the other Aurors that this was not an empty threat. Harry turned back to the board and said, “We all have secrets, and some of our secrets are going to become apparent while we observe these maps to catch Lucia. Take mine, for example.”

He pointed at the map to Potter Manor, “With each map, it will show you the grounds and the blueprint of the ground floor. If you tap on the blueprint, it will show you the first floor, then the second floor and so on. Okay?”

They all nodded, “And right now, you’ll notice that at my house, there are four kids in the drawing-room.”

Jason chuckled at the three dots that were running riot.

“That one is Thea, she’s only still because she’s a baby,” Harry said with an amused smile, “And you’ll also notice that Neville and his wife Lilly are there with my wife. You’ll notice the four of us in each other’s houses a lot, and you can make of that what you will, but you don’t pry.”

He pointed to the map of 11 and 12 Grimmauld Place, “Just like you don’t pry if you see Draco and Theo, and their wives going between these two houses. We are trusting you with our reputations here, we are trusting you not to betray our trust, and from people like Draco and I, that does not come easily.”

Draco nodded his agreement.

“If you break it, it will not be earned back,” Harry finished, “Am I clear?”

“Yes, sir,” All four Aurors echoed.

“Good,” Harry said, “Terry and Jason, you’re on map duty for the next few hours. Draco, we need to check out the crime scene of Matthias Jones’s murder then bug Justin for some answers.”

“Wonderful,” Draco remarked sarcastically.

* * *

Hermione had been content to let Theo do his own thing. Mostly because she felt like it was the only way to let him settle, she had been waiting for him to come running home with his tail between his legs.

However, a brief conversation with Lilly, a few days after Theo had disappeared, changed her opinion. It was Lilly’s day off, and she had nipped around to number 12 to ask Hermione if Sadie was doing okay.

“She’s struggling,” Hermione had sighed as she sipped her coffee, “We all are, but what can we do? If he doesn’t want to come home, we can’t make him.”

Lilly sighed, “You need to try. He’s been camped out in Potter Manor for the past few days. He barely slept while he made those maps for Harry and he’s just completely worn out.”

Hermione shook her head angrily, “So he’s losing himself in work and hiding away from us in Potter Manor while Sadie spends her days crying, thinking that she’s lost Theo all over again?”

Lilly bit her lip.

“Well, fuck that,” Hermione fumed, “Can you stay here while the kids nap? I need to go and knock some bloody sense into Theodore Nott.”

Lilly smiled a little, Hermione was nothing if not predictable, “Of course I can. On you go.”

So Hermione abandoned her coffee and floo-ed to Potter Manor. Lilly grinned and conjured up a Patronus, “It worked Daphne - angry Hermione incoming. I’d steer clear until the danger has passed.”

Her Patronus bounded out of the room, and she smirked into her coffee, “Gryffindors, so easy to play.”

* * *

Hermione glared at Theo when she saw him sitting in the drawing-room of Potter Manor.

He rolled his eyes and asked, “What do you want, princess?”

“What do I want?” Hermione asked in a dangerously low tone of voice, “What I want is for you to stop burying your head in the sand like an ostrich and come _home_.”

“You say that like my home is with you,” Theo scoffed, “It isn’t, it’s with Sadie.”

“Yes, it’s with Sadie,” Hermione agreed, “And Sadie is my best friend. Maybe you can’t see how much she’s suffering right now but I can. She feels like she’s lost you all over again and frankly, with the way you’re acting, maybe she has.”

Theo shook his head and looked away from her, “Why didn’t she come here to bring me back then? Why you? You have no power over me.”

“You sure about that?” Hermione asked coolly.

Her tone made Theo look up at her. He didn’t think he had ever heard her sound so angry but cold at the same time.

“I know _exactly_ what you are going through right now. If you were capable of taking your head out of your own arse for five minutes, you would know that,” Hermione said as she advanced on him, “ _I_ had to re-evaluate the way I looked at Draco. He was a boy I had a crush on, and then he was the boy who had stood by and watched his aunt torture me. It would have been easy for me to hate him for that, but I didn’t choose the easy way out like a coward.”

“I am not a coward!” Theo hissed, “If you knew the half of what _she_ did to me, you wouldn’t have the gall to call me that!”

“But I don’t know!” Hermione snapped, “Nobody knows because you won’t _tell_ us anything! So show me.”

Theo laughed humourlessly, “Show you? No, you couldn’t handle what you would see there.”

Hermione pulled her wand out of her pocket, “Then I guess you leave me no choice.”

She was bluffing; she would never cast a legilimency charm on Theo without his consent. Chiefly because it was illegal and if nothing else, Hermione did still abide by the law. Theo closed the distance between them and knocked her wand to the floor.

“Don’t _ever_ try to get inside my head,” Theo snarled, slamming Hermione against the wall.

For a few seconds, they stayed there. Hermione met Theo’s eyes and glared at him ferociously, and he stared at her as he comprehended what he had just done. His hands were gripping her wrists tightly, and although it hurt, she would never tell him that.

“It’s too dark for you, princess,” Theo finished bitterly, letting go of her and turning around.

“Try me,” Hermione said firmly.

Theo scoffed but said nothing.

“You have no idea what is too dark for me, Theodore Nott,” Hermione continued in that same tone of voice, “I have seen terrible things. I have watched horrific memories in my job. Some of the cases I have taken on have involved children who were abused by their parents. I’ve persecuted men who abused magical creatures and sick bastards who murdered their children because they were squibs. You think I can’t handle what’s in your head?”

She laughed humourlessly, “I think you’re just too scared to let me in.”

Theo spun on his heel, “Of course I’m scared to let you in! If you saw what I had done, you wouldn’t…you wouldn’t like me very much anymore.”

“Well it’s a good thing that _I’m_ the one offering to see what’s in your head then, isn’t it?” Hermione asked calmly, “Because I’m not the love of your life or the best friend who you have complicated feelings for. I’m just the fourth person, Draco’s wife and Sadie’s best friend.”

“And my family,” Theo said, meeting her eye, “You’re my bloody family Hermione, of course, you matter as much as they do.”

His eyes had softened, and Hermione hoped she might get somewhere, “So show me what she did to you.”

Theo sighed and turned to look at her, “Fine.”

He leant down and picked up her wand then he sat down on the sofa, “Do it.”

Hermione took her wand from him and didn’t pause to let him change his mind.

“Legilimens!”

The memories were at the forefront of Theo’s mind, so she saw it all in a flash of blurred, regret and pain fuelled memories. The torture at the hand of Seamus, being forced to watch his funeral by Lucia. Being controlled and forced to torture someone at Lucia’s hand. Then there was his nightmare world, the moment he found out about Draco and Sadie’s betrayal. The moment he threw Sadie against those stairs and killed her. The moment he cast Almina out and finally, she saw flashes of Charlus’s hatred of him.

When it was over, she opened her eyes and looked at Theo.

“You’re crying.”

Hermione wiped her eyes, “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“Not realising how bad it was,” Hermione said, pulling Theo to his feet and drawing him into a hug. After a few seconds, Theo wrapped his arms around her, and they stayed like that for a little while.

“You need to go home,” Hermione whispered.

“I…” Theo swallowed, “I can’t deal with Draco yet.”

“I understand that,” Hermione said and having seen his memories, she did, “I do, but you need to go home to Sadie because Mina and Charlie are so confused, Theo. Their Dad was dead then he came back and now he’s gone again. Sadie is distraught without you, so you need to go home to them.”

Hermione drew back and smiled sadly, “If you can’t face us, I understand that, but you need to face your wife and children.”

“Okay,” Theo said simply.

“Okay?” Hermione echoed.

“I’ll go home,” Theo said, his voice was so low it was almost a whisper.

Hermione kissed him on the cheek, “Good.”

Theo nodded. He threw some floo powder into the fire, said, “Number 11 Grimmauld Place” and stepped inside. With a roar, he vanished from view and Hermione sighed in relief.

“Well handled,” A voice said from the doorway.

Hermione looked up as she rubbed her wrists; they still burned from where Theo had gripped them. Daphne looked as tired as Hermione felt. The blonde woman usually looked flawless, but at the moment even the best glamour charms couldn’t hide the bags under her eyes or her unnaturally pale pallor.

“Are you okay?” Hermione asked her friend, “You look tired.”

“I’m exhausted,” Daphne admitted, she leant in the doorway, “I’m going to give up and put Thea on formula. She’s just so hungry, and I’m not getting any sleep.”

“Isn’t Harry helping out?” Hermione asked. She knew that Harry had helped an awful lot when Andrea was a baby.

Daphne laughed a little bitterly, “Harry? It feels more like I’m married to Neville. He’s the one who sits with the kids so that I can have a nap. He slept here two nights ago because Harry didn’t come home.”

Hermione shook her head in disbelief, “What is it with the men in our lives right now? Harry and Draco are becoming workaholics without Theo and Neville to drag their stupid arses home! And Theo is all over the bloody place!”

Daphne raised an eyebrow at Hermione as the dark-haired girl lost her temper, “I’ve had enough of his shit Daphne, I’ll deal with him.”

“Okay?” Daphne said slowly.

But Hermione didn’t explain herself any further, she just stalked out of the Manor in a rage.

Daphne smirked and conjured up her doe Patronus, “Success. Theo’s gone home, and I think Hermione might be on her way to beat up Harry. That wasn’t part of the plan, but I’m not complaining.”

The doe bounded out of the window, and Daphne dragged herself downstairs for another cup of coffee.

* * *

When Theo stepped out of the fireplace into the drawing-room of number 11, he was instantly met by Sadie.

“Theo!” She cried as she got to her feet and dashed towards him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. He took a shaky breath and hugged her back, just as tightly.

Sadie drew back first, but before she let him say a word, she pushed herself onto her tiptoes and kissed her husband hard. She hadn’t kissed him like that since she broke him out of his nightmare world. It was an all or nothing kind of kiss, she poured her heart into it and kept an ironclad grip around Theo’s neck as she pulled him towards her. And who was he to fight that? He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her body close to his. She moaned involuntarily against his lips when he deepened the kiss, slipping his tongue into her mouth and dropping his hands from her waist to her bum. They hadn’t kissed like that since before he was captured, but for Theo, it felt like _years_ not weeks. He had been terrified to be intimate with Sadie, terrified that he wouldn’t be able to restrain himself and that his over-eagerness would hurt her, but he didn’t need to worry about that because she took charge.

She pushed him into a chair and straddled him, kissing him all the while. He gasped against her lips and murmured an apology into her neck. She hushed him and whispered in his ear, “It’s okay Theo, you’re home. You’re safe, and it’s all going to be okay.”

And at that moment, Theo finally began to believe it.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	24. Give Forgiveness a Chance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> * ~ WARNING! ~ *
> 
> This chapter is like marmite, you are either going to love it or hate it. Things come to a head between Draco and Theo in a rather unexpected way...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title comes from the song:  
> Bleed Red by Ronnie Dunn.

At home, Hermione considered herself as Hermione Black. She was Draco’s wife and Elladora and Caspian’s mother. However, when she stepped into the DMLE, she was Hermione Granger, the defence lawyer who had put away rapists and child abusers. She may have been on maternity leave, but when she walked into the Auror department in her black suit, her high heels clicking behind her, everyone knew that she meant business.

“Harry James Potter,” Hermione barked when she opened the door of the Homicide Bullpen, “Duelling chamber, _now_.”

Draco grinned at his Auror partner, “You are _fucked_.”

Harry shot Draco an irritated look and got to his feet, “What have I done?”

Hermione nudged her head in the direction of the duelling chamber, so Harry stepped out of the bullpen wordlessly.

When the door shut behind them, Owen whistled, “Your wife is _hot,_ man.”

Draco smirked proudly, “I know. Back to work Owen, you’ll get a laugh when Harry comes back in here black and blue in half an hour no doubt.”

* * *

Harry and Hermione didn’t talk as they walked up the corridor to the duelling chamber.

Hermione opened the door. Harry walked inside, and then Hermione snapped the door shut behind her. When she kicked off her shoes and drew her wand, Harry knew that she meant business.

“Seriously, what have I done?” Harry asked, drawing his wand.

“What have you done?” Hermione echoed, “ _Depulso_!”

“ _Protego!_ ”

“ _Diffindo_!”

Harry ducked to the side, “What’s going on?”

“You’re an arse,” Hermione remarked. She pointed her wand at the dummies used for duelling practice that were behind Harry, “ _Piertotum Locomotor.”_

The dummies sprang to life and advanced on Harry. He rolled his eyes, “Distraction tactics, every time! You’re predictable – _reducto_ – how – _diffindo_ – am – _bombarda!_ – I - _Protego!_ \- an arse?”

“You are an arse because you are losing yourself in your work!” Hermione snapped, “Just like Theo lost himself in those maps. You used him; he wasn’t ready for that yet!”

Harry ducked a cutting curse, “He managed fine!” he yelled, throwing a blasting charm at Hermione.

“ _Protego_! Just because he did it, that doesn’t mean he was ready,” Hermione glared at him, “He barely slept for days while he made those maps, did you know that?”

Guilt flitted across Harry’s face “No,” he admitted.

Hermione’s eyes flashed angrily, “ _Ventus!”_

Harry jumped out of the way of the little hurricane she had just thrown at him.

“Did you know that Neville spent the night with your wife two nights ago while _you_ worked?” Hermione continued.

Harry looked even more guilty, “No,” he confessed.

“Did you know that Neville has been putting his health and his recovery at risk to keep an eye on _your_ children so that _your_ wife can sleep?” Hermione fumed, “All because _you_ are too absorbed in this goddamn case to go home and feed your baby a bottle one night, just to give your wife a break!”

Harry had stopped duelling her. He had even stopped defending himself. If she fired a spell at him now, he doubted he would lift his wand to shield against it.

Hermione lowered her wand, “He’s meant to be healing, not babysitting.”

“I know,” Harry said.

“Go home,” Hermione ordered, “Spend time with your children, help Daphne.”

“Apologise to Neville,” Harry finished.

Hermione nodded and slipped her wand back into her pocket, “I’m fed up of knocking sense into men. Between you and Theo, I’ve fulfilled my weekly quota.”

“You got Theo to go home?” Harry asked in surprise.

“Yes, and in three hours when your shift finishes, you will go home too,” Hermione said, “Don’t stay late tonight.”

“I won’t unless she kills someone else,” Harry promised, “Thanks, Hermione. I need someone to tell me that my head is up my arse sometimes.”

“I know you do, and in Neville’s absence, I will happily fill the void,” Hermione said, shooting Harry an amused smile.

“In other news, you do realise that you probably gave Draco a hard-on when you stalked in all business-like and demanding, right?” Harry joked.

Hermione smirked in response, “Did I? I had no idea.”

“Merlin, he has been a bad influence,” Harry chuckled, holstering his wand and hugging his friend, “But thank you.”

“I would say anytime, but I don’t want it to get to this point again,” Hermione said honestly.

“It won’t,” Harry promised her.

* * *

“Did you get your arse kicked?” Draco asked when Harry re-entered the bullpen.

“No, it was more of a mental onslaught this time,” Harry replied, “But she’s right, I need to spend more time at home and less time losing myself in this case.”

Draco nodded.

“Same goes for you,” Harry added, looking at Draco, “Or she’ll destroy you.”

“He’d probably be into that,” Terry joked.

Draco snorted, “Higgs, shut it, or you’ll be on map duty for the next week.”

Terry smirked in response.

Harry chuckled, “Tonight map duty falls to Ben and Owen. Guys, you just need to stay awake. Play cards, do what you want but stay awake and call us if that light flashes at all.”

He pointed to a light above the board, “It will alert us to Lucia’s presence, and we’ll just need to scan the maps to work out where she is.”

Ben and Owen both nodded.

“The pair that do map duty doesn’t have to come in the following day, so when we all rock up tomorrow morning, you guys head home for the day. Alright?” Harry asked, looking around the room.

Everyone nodded, so Harry smirked, “Let’s catch her.”

* * *

“I don’t know what you said to Harry this afternoon, but he left the bullpen at 5 pm sharp,” Draco called when he walked into Grimmauld Place that night, “Where are you?”

“In the kitchen!” Hermione called.

Draco stepped into the kitchen and smiled, “Hey baby!” he said, leaning down to kiss Ella as she bounced in her high chair.

“Dada!”

Draco kissed Caspian on the head too. He was lying on his play mat trying to punch a fluffy hippogriff.

“I just knocked some sense into him,” Hermione said, she was chopping up pasta for Ella at the island in the centre of the kitchen, “With a few pointed words rather than spells.”

“Well, it worked,” Draco said, walking up behind her and kissing her neck, “I love you.”

“I’m not convinced you’ll think that when I tell you what else happened today,” Hermione said, shooting him an exasperated look and putting the bowl of pasta in front of Ella.

“What else happened today?” Draco asked, surveying his wife.

“I went to Potter Manor,” Hermione admitted, “It’s how I found out that Harry was being a workaholic and neglecting Daphne.”

Draco’s eyes darkened, “And you saw Theo?”

“Oh, I saw Theo alright,” Hermione muttered, “And honestly, his temper has gotten much worse after being trapped in that nightmare world.”

Draco frowned, “What do you…” he noticed the bruises on her wrists and shook his head, “He did that? I swear I’ll-” he bit back a curse word and lowered his voice, “I really will kill him if he thinks he can treat you like that.”

“He lost his temper, but it was my fault,” Hermione admitted, “What I did was stupid and risky, like poking a dragon with a sharp stick kind of risky but it worked.”

Draco looked up sharply, “What?”

“He went home,” Hermione said quietly, “He locked and warded the basement door, but he went home to Sadie and his children. He doesn’t feel ready to be with us yet, but I understand that now.”

“You mean…you saw…?”

Hermione nodded, “He showed me his memories, Draco. They were blurry and vague, but you have no idea what Lucia did to him. She wore him down, she made him feel like none of us loved him and then she threw him into that nightmare world. He feels like he was there for years. Theo is not just trying to push away a bad dream; he’s trying to rewrite years of false memories.”

Draco sighed and sat down at the table, “So he’ll never forgive me.”

“I didn’t say that,” Hermione said quietly.

“You didn’t have to,” Draco muttered.

“Draco-”

He shook his head, “I don’t want to talk about him. Let’s just enjoy a family dinner, okay?”

Hermione knew when to push, and when it was best to leave Draco to stew on something for a few days, so she just nodded, “Fine.”

* * *

When the twins got home from school, they had thrown themselves at Theo, and rather than smiling sadly, he had lifted Almina and twirled her around in the air then ‘accidentally’ dropped her onto the sofa. He had grinned at Charlus and asked if he was too old for aeroplanes these days? Charlus had shaken his head, so Theo had tossed him up in the air too.

Sadie smiled broadly from the doorway as she watched him chase them around the house. Then, because she and Theo had been too busy ‘reconnecting’ to cook dinner, they all went out and ate at their favourite restaurant.

When they got in, the twins were too tired for a bath, so they went straight to bed. Sadie and Theo weren’t long behind them, but Theo couldn’t fall asleep for fear of waking up with his arms around Sadie’s neck again.

Instead, he lay in bed and listened to the wind howling outside. A thunderstorm was beginning to gather, it had been an incredibly hot Indian summer, and now that the pressure had built up, it was going to thunder and rain for a few days.

He lay in bed, listening to Sadie breathing quietly and enjoying the feel of her soft, smooth skin against his own. The rain battered against the window, and the wind howled through the draughty old house.

Sadie woke up when a nearby tree hit against the window sometime after midnight.

“It’s just a tree, baby,” Theo said, yanking open the window and cutting the offending branch off with a simple ‘diffindo’. He shut the window and looked down at the branch that now lay on the doorstep of number 11, detached from the rest of the tree.

“I think that’s what I need to do with Draco,” Theo said quietly.

Sadie frowned, “What?”

“Cut him off, like a branch on a tree,” Theo said. He sat down on the edge of the bed in his boxers and looked out at the stormy night, “While I was away, I worked out what I was struggling to cope with, and it’s the house _and_ Draco. I can just about handle the house on its own, even though there’s a bad memory around every corner.”

Sadie listened intently because this was the first time Theo had really spoken to her about his ordeal.

“But when Draco is in this house, it amplifies everything,” Theo said with a shake of his head, “All the bad memories, seem twice as bad, so one of them has to go.”

“The house, or Draco?” Sadie clarified.

Theo nodded, “And we can’t get rid of the house. It’s our family home, and it’s where our children were born. So that’s the solution, cut a branch off of the family tree.”

“Theo,” Sadie said softly, “I think that’s a drastic measure to jump to.”

Theo shook his head and got up, “No, I’ve been thinking about it for days, and it’s the best way for our family.”

“Draco and Hermione are our family-”

“No. Me, you, Almina and Charlus are a family,” Theo said simply. He pulled on a pair of trousers and grabbed a discarded t-shirt from the floor.

“Theo,” Sadie said, scrambling to her feet, “Just don’t do anything rash.”

Theo didn’t say anything further on the subject; he just left the bedroom.

Sadie sighed and got to her feet, pulling on a dressing gown and padding down to the drawing-room as the front door was blown shut loudly by the wind after Theo left the house.

* * *

When the doorbell rang in the middle of the night, Draco was wary. His anxiety was made worse by the raging storm. He sat up in bed, and Hermione was roused awake too.

“Stay here and keep your wand on you,” Draco whispered, “Just in case.”

Hermione nodded. Draco got up, threw on an emerald green silken robe and grabbed his wand. He crept down the stairs into the vestibule and peered through the eyehole; he was relieved when he saw that it was Theo.

“It’s only Theo!” He called up the stairs to Hermione.

Hermione frowned and pulled her dressing gown on. When the voices in the hall got heated, she decided to head through the secret passageway to number 11 to make sure that Theo and Sadie hadn’t fought again.

* * *

Theo was already soaked to the skin by the time Draco opened the front door. He sighed when he saw his best friend, “Come in, you idiot," Draco said affectionately, taking a step back.

Theo shook his head, "If I'm going to break your heart, I'd rather do it in the pouring rain. That way I can go all-in on my melodramatic movie moment."

Draco frowned, "Theo, don't."

"I have to," Theo said, smiling sadly at Draco, "For both of our sakes, for our wives sakes, for our kid's sakes. We can't carry on like this Draco. Things haven't been the same since I got back."

Draco shook his head, "You haven't given it enough time-"

"It's been almost a month," Theo cut him off, "And I still can't look you in the eye and be sure of who you are. I can't face going into the basement of my own house to come through to yours. I can barely face my own house, but I can’t handle it at all when you are in there, so one of you had to go.”

"And you chose me?” Draco asked in disbelief, "You would rather cut me off than move house?”

"That’s our family home,” Theo said quietly, “I need to focus on _my_ family.”

“I am your family!” Draco objected.

"You're making this harder than it needs to be," Theo said, casting his gaze down.

"What did you expect?" Draco asked incredulously, "That I was just going to let you walk away without a fight?"

"Yeah," Theo admitted, looking up at Draco, "I thought you, more than anybody else, would understand that when you love someone, sometimes you need to let them go."

Draco shook his head, and his eyes shone with anger and betrayal. He took a step towards Theo and Theo instinctively stepped back, expecting to be punched. The rain continued to pour as Draco grabbed Theo's shoulders roughly to stop him from moving away. Then he leant down and pressed his lips tentatively against his best friends. The kiss that followed was chaste and short.

Theo yanked himself out of Draco's grasp and pulled back, looking at his best friend in surprise. Draco caught his eye and held his gaze for a moment, the last thing he wanted to do was make things worse, but this was it. This was the breaking point.

Theo didn’t run away; he didn't punch Draco or yell at him. He just held Draco's gaze.

"Would the version of me in your nightmare world have done that?" Draco asked fiercely.

Theo swallowed, "No."

"So stop punishing me for something that I didn't do," Draco said firmly. He hadn't taken his eyes off of Theo's, and neither of them had backed away from the other, so Draco grabbed his best friend's face and kissed him hard. Theo kissed him back this time, his hands moving to the side of Draco's face. Draco leant into the kiss and deepened it, pouring everything that he had into that kiss. It was his last shot, his last chance to show Theo how much he cared.

Theo must have felt that, through their mental link as much as anything else. He kissed Draco hard but passionately. It was by no stretch of the imagination romantic. If anything, it was a messy apology.

When Draco broke the kiss, they both had tears in their eyes.

"I've wanted..." Draco cleared his throat, " _Needed_ , to do that for a while."

Theo didn't move away from Draco. The blond man’s hands were still on the side of his face. He took a shaky breath and rested his head against Draco's.

"But," Theo struggled to find the words, "The whole...the whole talk on the Astronomy Tower all of those years ago..."

"The 'we love each other, but we're not gay' talk? Yeah well things change, people change. The way I feel has changed," Draco said softly, "And since you were just about to walk out on me, I had nothing to lose so I thought I should check if the way you feel has changed too."

Theo stepped away from Draco. They were both drenched, but neither of them moved to go inside.

"The way I feel hasn't changed," Theo confessed, "I've felt this way for my whole life, but I've never been able to say it. I pushed it down and prayed that I wasn't gay because if I was, I really would have been a disgrace. Then when Sadie and I got together, it was easy to push down any 'other' feelings I felt towards you."

Draco nodded, "I know."

Theo met his best friends gaze, "But I came back after Lucia's torture and..."

"... everything changed," Draco finished quietly, his eyes locked on Theo's.

"Yeah."

"I lost you once, Theo," Draco said, his voice rough with emotion, "You died, I buried you, and I gave your eulogy and...I had regrets. I don't want to have regrets this time around.”

Theo didn't say anything. He tried, but no words came out, so he shut his mouth again.

A roar of thunder echoed above them. They both looked up as lightning flashed through the sky.

"Storms real close now," Theo said awkwardly.

Draco looked away from the stormy sky, "I love you, Theo."

"A terrible decision, really," Theo said weakly, looking down at the ground to avoid meeting Draco's eye.

"Theo," Draco said.

The dark-haired man looked up at his best friend.

“Stay,” Draco said.

Theo swallowed.

Draco spoke softly, "We can lock the basement up in both houses if that's the problem. Just move in here while we work it out.”

Theo's eyes shone with tears.

"Because we _will_ work it out," Draco promised. His eyes were shining with tears too, "All of it. You just need to stay."

Theo swallowed a lump in his throat and gave a minuscule nod. He caught Draco's eye and walked forward, capturing Draco's lips in another kiss. It wasn’t chaste like the first one, or hard and passionate like the second one. It was soft, his lips brushed against Draco's, his hand moved to Draco's cheek. Draco grabbed Theo's hand and pulled him into the house, shutting the door and the storm out.

In the small vestibule, Theo pressed Draco against the wall as he deepened the kiss. Draco didn’t fight it; he let Theo deepen the kiss and mumble, "Thank you," against his lips.

* * *

"Well, that was inevitable," Hermione said as she looked out of the drawing-room window of number 11. Street light lit up Draco and Theo. They were outside the wards of number 12 Grimmauld Place, so anyone could see them. It was a good thing that the street was empty, and all of the curtains were drawn because of the storm.

Sadie nodded as she looked down at them. They were talking in whispers, their foreheads pressed together, "It's been going that way for a while."

"This is going to change the dynamic around here," Hermione pointed out.

"Maybe," Sadie agreed, "It depends if this becomes a sexual thing or not."

"Look at the way they just kissed," Hermione said, raising an eyebrow at her best friend, "It was passionate."

"And emotionally charged," Sadie pointed out, "Theo went round there to cut him off, remember? This could be a onetime thing."

Hermione hummed thoughtfully and looked back down to the street, "I could sense a change between them from the moment Theo woke up."

"Me too," Sadie confessed, "It's been building up to this for weeks. Frankly, I'm surprised that it took six years to get to this point."

"He lost him," Hermione said, her eyes on the two men on the street as Theo kissed Draco tentatively, "We all did. Losing someone....it gives you some perspective."

Sadie looked at the sight on the street and sighed, "Yeah."

"He's not going to run away from you and the kids to be with Draco," Hermione assured Sadie. She grabbed the blonde woman's hand, "Do you remember what you said a while ago? About how once upon a time, you thought you loved Theo more than Draco, but now you think you both love him the same?"

Sadie nodded.

"That's how Theo feels," Hermione promised, "Half of his heart is yours, and the other half is Draco's. It's been that way for a while. It just took a long time for those two to come to terms with that."

"I know," Sadie said, "But kisses on cheeks and hugs in everyday life is one thing. All of us together sexually is another thing, a very rare other thing-”

Hermione bit back an amused smile. What Sadie meant by that was a ‘when all four of us are very drunk thing’.

“But what if they..."

"They won't," Hermione promised, "And once the moment is over, they are both going to go, 'Oh shit, we have wives' and feel immensely guilty, I guarantee it."

"You think so?"

"I know so, come on."

* * *

"Draco," Theo murmured. He broke the kiss and turned his head to the side, "We can't do this."

Draco nodded, "I know."

"Sadie and Hermione are...." Theo sighed and looked back at Draco, "...understanding doesn't quite cover it but still...if this becomes a thing."

"It doesn't have to become a thing," Draco said, the atmosphere suddenly felt a bit awkward, "We can chalk it up to desperate times calling for desperate measures."

"I think that would be for the best," Theo admitted.

"Is that really how you both feel, though?"

Draco jumped and took a step back.

"Hermione!"

"Sadie!"

"How long have you two been there?" Theo asked, resting his hand on his chest as his heart thumped loudly.

"Longer than you would like I expect," Hermione answered, "We also saw everything out of the drawing-room window."

Draco paled, "Hermione, I can explain-"

"You don't need to," Hermione said simply.

Sadie nodded her agreement, "We've been expecting this for a little while, Draco. I'm a little surprised that it didn't happen when Theo woke up in the hospital."

Draco looked at his best friend who just shrugged helplessly.

"The tension between you two has been rather apparent,” Hermione said, "It felt a little like it did back in school, between you and Harry."

Theo scoffed, "Oh come on, we're way gayer than Harry and Draco."

"Don't get jealous just because he's my new partner," Draco said, shooting Theo an amused look, "I didn't just kiss him in the pouring rain. Was it melodramatic enough for you, by the way?"

"Yes, thank you for obliging with my wish to act out a scene from Hermione's favourite rom-com," Theo joked.

"Yes, it was very 'The Notebook’. Now would you two quit making jokes to avoid talking about all that snogging you just did?" Hermione asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Easy to do it, less easy to look your best friend in the eye afterwards, right?" Sadie asked, an amused smile on her lips.

"You two are enjoying this, aren't you?" Draco asked with a roll of his eyes.

"Oh come on, you would be laughing if it was the other way around," Hermione said pointedly.

“Where’s the onslaught of questions that usually follow a shocking event then, Hermione?" Draco asked, casting his eyes over his wife.

Hermione raised an eyebrow, “You want an onslaught of questions? Okay, here we go - Is this a thing or not? Are you going to do this regularly? Is it going to become sexual?"

"No," Draco and Theo said in unison.

"That was...an interesting and moderately enjoyable experience," Theo said evasively, "But I can't do the whole gay sex thing. I just can't deal with you shoving anything anywhere near my-"

"Theo!" Sadie exclaimed as the colour rose in her cheeks.

"Interesting that you assumed I'd be the one shoving anything anywhere near your-"

"Draco!" Hermione chastised.

Draco shot her a sheepish smile.

Hermione raised her eyebrows, "So that's a no to sex?"

"Definite no," Draco said with a firm nod.

"It was a onetime thing," Theo said, "Emotional moment after a near break-up. Let's put it down to that."

"Well if it's only going to happen in emotionally charged moments, I suppose we ought to get used to it Sadie," Hermione said, turning to look at her best friend in amusement.

Sadie chuckled despite herself.

Draco rolled his eyes, “Funny.”

Hermione cocked her head at them, “We need to sleep, and the kids are in two separate houses, so how are we doing this?”

“I should probably go home with Sadie,” Theo said, “He’d probably try and shag me if I stayed here.”

Draco snorted, “And so it begins.”

“Well, you did kiss me,” Theo pointed out.

“You kissed me the last time!”

“But you kissed me twice first!”

Hermione bit her lip and smiled at Sadie, “Normalcy resumed?”

Sadie smiled and nodded, “Yeah, it looks like it, doesn’t it?”

“Anyway, I thought you said I was a shit kisser,” Draco continued to bicker with Theo, “Back in school?”

“You were a shit kisser back then,” Theo said, grinning at Hermione, “The princess has taught you well.”

Draco shook his head in disbelief, “Unbelievable.”

“Bed,” Hermione said with an amused smile, “Probably in male-female partnerships just in case you two do end up shagging.”

Draco choked on thin air at that comment and Sadie had to hide an amused grin behind her hand.

“I mean I know I’m irresistible to women,” Theo said, stepping out of the vestibule and taking Sadie’s hand, “But I didn’t realise that I was irresistible to men too.”

“I wish I had a time-turner,” Draco muttered.

“No, you don’t,” Hermione said, looking Draco in the eye, “That needed to happen.”

“And it was kind of enjoyable for Hermione and I to watch too,” Sadie teased.

“Sadie Cauldwell, _how_ I have corrupted you,” Theo said, grinning at his wife.

“Shut up, Theo,” Sadie chuckled, “We need to go home and sleep.”

“Come over here for breakfast in the morning,” Draco said. He smiled at them all, “I have a plan.”

* * *

Everyone was visibly exhausted at breakfast the next morning, but Draco seemed to have a new lease of life now that his best friend was back. He was shrugging on his red Auror robes when Sadie and Theo traipsed into the kitchen with the twins in tow.

“Morning.”

Theo yawned, “What’s got you so spritely?”

“His idea,” Hermione said, shooting her husband an amused look and pouring out coffee for Sadie and Theo.

Draco nodded, “You move in here.”

Theo raised an eyebrow at him, “Don’t you think we’d all be a bit cramped in here?”

“Well it would be a short-term solution until we could buy somewhere bigger,” Draco shrugged, “We’ve practically been living in one house for the past five years, and over the last few weeks when you warded the door, it was the hardest it’s ever been.”

Sadie nodded, “We virtually moved in while you were gone, Theo.”

“Mina and Charlie already have rooms here,” Hermione added, “And there are enough guest rooms for you to pick from. It makes sense.”

“There would be three of us hanging around here all day though,” Theo said, “Won’t we drive each other crazy?”

“After I’ve dropped the kids at school, I’ll lock myself in the library to get some work done,” Sadie yawned, “Because as much as I love Ella and Cas, they are distracting.”

“And Hermione’s never in, between all her clubs and stuff,” Draco said with a yawn.

Hermione glared at him, “I don’t have that many clubs.”

Theo grinned, “You do, though. Monday is baby book club in the morning then you spend the afternoon gossiping with Lilly.”

“I don’t gossip!”

“You do!” Three voices echoed.

Hermione rolled her eyes as Theo continued, “Tuesday is Ella’s gymnastics day. Wednesday is baby and toddler swim club. Thursday is mini Quidditch practice in the morning with the Potter babies then lunch with Daphne and _another_ gossiping session. Then Friday is what, the only day you keep free apart from the weekend?”

Hermione shook her head, “I like to keep busy, okay?”

Sadie smiled, “I wish I had done more of that when the twins were little. I didn’t take them to anything like that. It’s one of the things I would do differently if I was able to have another.”

Theo put his arm around her, “But our two are pretty awesome, don’t you think?”

The twins were currently helping themselves to the pastries on the table, which made Sadie laugh, “Yes, they are.”

“How are we going to explain to them that we’re moving in here?” Theo asked quietly.

“I doubt it will be as hard as you think,” Sadie answered.

Theo raised an eyebrow at her, “Really?”

“Really,” Sadie said, “Watch.”

Sadie sat down at the table and said, “Mina, Charlie. How would you feel if we all moved into this house and sold the one next door?”

Charlus frowned, “Could I bring all my stuff and put it in my room here?”

“Of course you can,” Sadie replied with a smile, “We would never sell your things.”

Charlus nodded, “Okay. The garden here is cooler anyway, and my room is bigger.”

Sadie shot Theo an amused look and turned to Almina, “How do you feel about that, honey?”

Almina nodded, “I like it here. Aunt Hermione cooks nicer breakfast too.”

Hermione bit back an amused smile at that comment. Sadie’s idea of breakfast was cereal, whereas Hermione tended to go more down the continental breakfast route because that was what Draco liked in the morning.

“Are we moving in because Dad’s in love with Uncle Draco?”

Theo spat out his coffee and Draco choked in mid-air.

“Uh…” Sadie floundered, “Well, I mean…it’s a bit more complicated than that, honey.”

Almina cocked her head at Theo, “Are you in love with Uncle Draco, Dad?”

Theo opened his mouth, then closed it again. He was baffled, both by the question and the fact it was coming from his five-year-old daughter. After a few seconds, during which his mind had raced then reminded him that Draco had told him he loved him the previous night, Theo looked up at Draco who was watching Theo with interest.

Their eyes met, and Theo said, “Yeah sweetheart,” he looked away from Draco and smile at his daughter, “That’s why we’re moving in here.”

Almina just nodded and said, “Okay.”

Sadie smiled over at her husband, “See? Easy.”

Theo nodded and looked over at Draco again, “Yeah, easy,” he agreed as he caught his best friends eye.

Draco knew he wasn’t talking about telling the kids about the move. He crossed the kitchen and gripped Theo’s shoulder, “It will be now you’re home, in body _and_ mind.”

Since leaving Potter Manor the previous day, Theo was finally beginning to believe that.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	25. All My Life I've Felt This Way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:  
> Stay by Hurts.
> 
> P.S: I’ve made a Draco/Theo video to this song, and I’m debating uploading it to my YouTube channel, but I’m not sure if I should as it’s very specific to this story. If you want to see it, leave a comment, and I’ll upload it to my channel! 😊 
> 
> For reference, I post lots of trailers and tag-along videos for my fanfics (mostly this one!) on my channel. The link is below if you are interested! 😊
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/user/HarryHermionefan64

“So all it takes is a girl kicking your ass to make you come home?”

Harry turned around and raised an eyebrow at his wife, “You’re talking to me now then?”

Daphne crossed her arms over her chest, “Do I look like I’m in the mood for your sass, Harry Potter?”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Look, I know I’ve been a shit husband and a mediocre father lately-”

“Yes,” Daphne cut in, “You have been.”

Harry was surprised by her bluntness. He looked up at her, hurt shining in his eyes, “I’ve had a lot on my plate.”

“We all have,” Daphne said hotly, “I’ve had to deal with Theo being camped out in the drawing-room. I’ve got Teddy to get to school, Teddy to help with his homework. I’ve got all the stupid insignificant fights between Al and Andie. I’ve got Thea crying all of the time unless she’s feeding or bloody Neville is holding her! Neville, Harry, not you because Neville is here and you aren’t!”

Harry swallowed, “I know. Look, I know I let this case…I’m letting it consume me, and I’m obsessed with catching her…”

Daphne shook her head, “I’ve never seen you like this.”

“Hermione has,” Harry confessed, “And that’s why it took Hermione to snap me out of it. I have not been this obsessed with something since the war, and it takes over my life, she’s right about that.”

Daphne simply nodded.

“I’m sorry, Daphne,” Harry said, and it was clear from the tears in his eyes that it was heartfelt, “I love you, and I haven’t been here enough. I can’t remember the last time I helped Teddy with his homework or the last time I took Al and Andie out on their brooms and Thea…I feel like I’m missing out on a lot with her right now.”

“You are,” Daphne said, her tone still icy, “And I’m not trying to be cold, Harry. I know you have a lot going on, between work and this case, and Neville, then the whole depressed Draco situation.”

Daphne sighed, “But I have a lot going on too. I have _four_ kids, and my support system is really sick and tired because she’s pregnant with twins. I’ve reached the limits of my Dad and Narcissa’s goodwill and Merlin knows what country my bloody sister is in!” she shook her head and looked at Harry, “I can’t do this forever, Harry.”

Harry’s eyes widened, “Daphne. I know I’ve not been good enough, but I swear, I-”

“Harry,” Daphne cut in, “I’m not suggesting we split up.”

“You’re not?” Harry asked cluelessly.

Daphne bit back an amused smile and shook her head, “No, I am _telling_ you that I can’t be a stay at home mum forever. I’m not like Sadie, she’s content to look after the kids and work in the library, but I need something more. I _love_ them all; I really do but-”

“I understand,” Harry cut in, “And if you want to go back to work, we’ll make arrangements.”

Daphne raised an eyebrow, “Arrangements?”

“A nanny,” Harry replied, “Or a nanny elf. Whatever option seems best, but either way – you can go back to work. I’d never ask you to be a housewife if it makes you miserable.”

Daphne smiled, “Thank you.”

Harry smiled back at her, “Besides if you don’t go back to work, I’ll never see those dragonhide trousers again.”

“Harry!” Daphne chastised.

Harry just grinned boyishly at her in response.

* * *

“Good morning,” Draco yawned when he walked into the Homicide bullpen.

“Morning,” Harry said. He glanced at the clock, “You were almost late.”

“It was a late night last night,” Draco admitted, “But a good one.”

“Yeah?” Harry asked.

Draco nodded and sat down behind his desk, “I think we finally sorted Theo out.”

“Good,” Harry said with a smile, “Hopefully things will get a bit brighter from here on out.”

“Fingers crossed,” Draco agreed. He looked over at Ben and Owen, “How was map duty boys?”

“Interesting,” Ben replied.

“Did you find out anything of interest?” Harry asked.

“Nah,” Ben said, “My brother stormed out on his wife again by the looks of it, but shit like that will happen when you marry your cousin.”

Harry made a face, “Yeah, I did think that when he married Sally. I mean, it’s just not right, is it? You get married, but your surname stays the same.”

Ben nodded, “Yep, but that’s what happens when you knock your cousin up at a masquerade ball.”

Draco snorted, and Harry burst out laughing, “That’s why he married her?”

Ben smirked in amusement, “Yeah, he shagged her at a masquerade ball, not realising she was his cousin and then she got pregnant, so my Dad and my Uncle made them get married.”

“That sentence is fucked up dude,” Jason pointed out.

“Purebloods for you though, isn’t it?” Terry chuckled.

“Look at Harry; he married his cousin.”

“ _Second_ cousin,” Harry pointed out, “Through my grandmother, it’s much more distant.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Draco grinned.

“I don’t like it when you’re in a good mood,” Harry joked, “Can you just go off and fight with Theo again?”

“No, I’m not having another month like that, it was exhausting,” Draco remarked with a roll of his eyes.

“Oh, Harry, we do have one question for you,” Owen said.

Harry looked over at him, “Yeah?”

“Why do you have about twenty people living in your back garden?”

“What?” Harry frowned.

“They only have one-word names like Dave, Betsy and-” Owen stopped because Harry had burst out laughing again.

“He put the _snakes_ on the map?” Harry asked Draco through his amusement.

Draco chuckled, “He wouldn’t have had a choice. To detect a person in their Animagus form or the transfigured disguise of an animal – _atchoo_ \- he would have had to add all named animals. Look at my house, Octavia is on the map.”

Harry frowned when he looked at the map of number 11 and 12 Grimmauld Place, “Who is Ratweiler?”

Draco sneezed again then replied, “A rat who lives in the basement that Hermione named and feeds cheese to,” Draco said with a shake of his head, “Honestly, being married to an animal rights activist is ridiculous. There are about six stray cats that always come to our garden because they know she’ll feed them.”

Harry sniggered, and the others all laughed at Draco’s expense too.

“Anyway, Owen, I have a cabin full of snakes in my back garden,” Harry explained, “I keep them as pets.”

“Isn’t that kind of dangerous?” Ben asked.

“No, I can talk to them so I would know if they were planning on hurting me,” Harry said offhandedly, “And the only really dangerous one is Dave, but he’s my favourite so he wouldn’t hurt anyone that I love.”

“What kind of snake is he? A rattlesnake or something?”

“No,” Harry said firmly, “I don’t like rattlesnakes, they are dicks. They’re so smug. All look at me, king of the rainforest! They just bite anything that they can then laugh and slither away even if they don’t want to eat it. Dicks.”

Draco bit his lip in amusement as the others surveyed Harry as if he were mad.

“Dave is a Boa Constrictor,” Harry said, “Dangerous obviously because he could crush a man to death in seconds but also very smart and sarcastic, with a wicked sense of humour. I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for Boas actually, the first snake I ever talked to was a Brazilian Boa, but that’s another story.”

“Okay,” Owen said slowly, “Thanks for clearing that one up.”

“I’ll bring Dave in here if you want-”

“No!” Five voices echoed.

Harry snorted, “Suit yourselves, he’s a lovely guy, very misunderstood.”

“Right!” Draco cut in, “Before Harry can get into a rant about how misunderstood snakes are, Owen and Ben, you two had best be-” he paused to sneeze, “- off.”

Owen slung his bag over his shoulder, “See you tomorrow guys,” he said before leaving the bullpen.

Ben pulled on his coat and grabbed his bag, “Draco, could I have a word with you in private before I head off?”

Draco frowned but answered, “Yes, of course.”

He opened the door of the bullpen and said, “Harry, mind if we borrow the Assistant Heads office for five minutes?”

“Go for it; it’s not like I use it,” Harry answered.

Draco walked down the corridor then opened the door of the office for Ben. He stepped in after him and closed the door.

“I just want you to know, I’m not prying or anything,” Ben began, “But I noticed from the maps last night that you were out in that thunderstorm for quite a while, and it was a bad one, worst storm we’ve had for years.”

Draco narrowed his eyes at Ben.

“And you’ve been sneezing this morning,” Ben continued, “So I thought you might want this. My mum taught me how to make it. It knocks out a cold before it can take hold if you take it within the first 24 hours, it’s a brilliant thing.”

Draco took the vial that Ben was holding out for him, “Thank you,” he said genuinely.

Ben shrugged, “Here’s one for Auror Nott too. He’ll have to be more careful; his immune system won’t fully recover for at least another three months so I would recommend he takes it as soon as possible.”

Draco took the second vial and asked, “How do you know so much about potions, Ben?”

“My mum taught me,” Ben replied, “She was a Slytherin, like me and she loved potions. My father won’t let her work, so she brews potions from the house instead, just to keep the boredom at bay.”

Draco smiled, “She sounds like a nice person.”

“She is,” Ben said, smiling a little more brightly, “She’s about the only one who doesn’t hate me for being gay.”

“Mothers are like that,” Draco mused, “Their love tends to be more unconditional than a fathers love. Anyway, you better head off home and get some sleep. Thanks for the potions.”

“Anytime,” Ben replied, and he disappeared out of the office.

Draco knocked his back and put Theo’s in his pocket. When he got back to the homicide bullpen, he said, “I like that kid.”

“Why?” Harry asked.

“I can’t tell you, but he just well and truly earned my respect,” Draco said honestly.

Harry raised an eyebrow at Draco, “Wow, that’s not an easy thing to come by.”

“I know,” Draco smirked, “I need to nip back to my house for five minutes. Is that okay?”

“Yep, all we’re doing is watching the maps and reading the Prophet anyway,” Harry said with an amused smile, “But since you need to leave anyway, bring back coffee.”

Draco chuckled, “Deal.”

* * *

Terry and Jason were on map duty that night. They started the night playing cards, but when they started falling asleep in-between turns, they resorted to watching the maps and drinking coffee.

“Whoa, nice one Belinda.”

“What?”

Terry smirked, “Belinda Zabini just brought the undersecretary to the Minister for Magic home.”

Jason rolled his eyes, “You’re a gossip, Terry. Is that just a Slytherin thing or something?”

“Ah, maybe,” Terry shrugged, “But Belinda is a sleep-her-way-upper if ever I saw one.”

Jason snorted, “That’s not even a word, you just made that up. What you’re saying is she’s an Eva Peron?”

“Who?” Terry quipped.

“Eva Peron, started as a nobody and slept her way up until she was married to Juan Peron, the president of Argentina,” Jason said with a wave of his hand, “She was super famous, they made a musical about her life and everything.”

“Oh, a musical, like the Phantom of the Opera?” Terry asked eagerly.

“Yeah,” Jason looked up at him in amusement, “How come you know that one?”

“Well I’m a half-blood,” Terry said, “But I was raised in the wizarding world. My father was a muggle-born, and there wasn’t much from muggle culture that he missed, but he did like the theatre. He took me to see Phantom of the Opera. It’s a fascinating story, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know, I’m not really into musicals,” Jason yawned, “I only know ‘Evita’ because my little sister's university put on a production of it and she played Eva Peron.”

“Oh is she a muggle then?” Terry asked, topping up both of their coffee mugs and looking at the clock. It had just gone 3 am.

Jason nodded, “Yeah, I’m a Muggle-born. Never really knew my parents, though, they were drug addicts, and they neglected us while we were young. We were taken away from them when I was a kid, and Kylie was a baby. It was my foster parents who taught me everything I know.”

“And they were okay with you being a wizard?” Terry asked.

Jason grinned, “Oh, they loved it. My foster dad is a huge fan of Lord of the Rings; he thought I’d be going to school with elves and everything. He was so disappointed when I told him about house-elves. Kylie’s not magical, but she doesn’t mind, she’s an actress.”

Terry smiled, “It’s nice that you have a supportive family.”

“Don’t you?” Jason queried.

Terry shook his head, “My father died a few years ago, so it’s just my mother and me. She was a Bulstrode before she was married, so she’s a traditionalist if ever I met one. She’s horrified that I’m nearly 30 and not married yet, she’s convinced I’m into blokes.”

Jason laughed, “Yeah, I feel your pain there. My foster mum is always nagging about wanting grandkids. It’s hard when you work this job though, isn’t it? It’s hard to find someone who's okay with the danger and the late nights and all the weekends that you miss.”

“Exactly,” Terry said with a nod, “It’s not that I don’t want to settle down, it’s just that every girl I’ve ever dated has tried to get me to quit and I love being an Auror.”

“I feel your pain mate,” Jason said, “I’m the same. The only time I got close to a girl who understood she broke up with me and ended up with Sorenson.”

“You dated Clara?” Terry asked in surprise.

Jason nodded, “Yep, she was my high school girlfriend. I was a year above her in school; you were in her year, weren’t you?”

“Yeah, didn’t talk to her much though,” Terry admitted, “She was in Ravenclaw, and I was in Slytherin. Our paths just didn’t cross. I didn’t realise she’d dated you though. She’s got a thing for Gryffindors, hasn’t she?”

“Clearly,” Jason snorted.

At that point, their conversation came to an end because an alarm sounded, and the red light above the map board began to flash. Jason and Terry scanned the maps until they saw the flashing red dot labelled, ‘Lucia Cross’.

Jason tapped his communication bracelet, “She’s at Abbott Castle. Respond ASAP.”

“Let’s go,” Terry said, pulling his robes on and grabbing his wand.

* * *

Harry and Draco both responded to the call immediately as well. They had been sleeping with their robes next to their beds so that they could get up, transfigure their clothes and go.

Terry and Jason were waiting at the treeline when Harry and Draco apparated to Abbott Castle within seconds of each other.

“She’s used a temporal ward disruptor,” Jason whispered, pointing to the shimmering blue dome which was wobbly and looked out of sync.

“Come on,” Harry said as he led the way to the gates, “Code red. We need to catch her at any cost.”

The others nodded, so Harry led the way through the open gate. They crept through the gatehouse into the yard, and Harry put up anti-disapparation, and anti-portkey wards then motioned to the great hall straight ahead, where a light was on. The door to the main castle was open, so they snuck inside and stormed into the great hall as Lucia forced Howard to his knees with the imperius curse.

“Lucia Cross, you are under arrest,” Harry barked, “If you try and resist, we will use force to subdue you.”

Lucia smirked at them.

“Stupefy!”

The spell missed her because she had just shrunk out of view. Harry frowned at the pile of clothes on the floor then a snake emerged from them.

“She’s an Animagus!” Draco called and they all aimed stunners at the snake.

It was too late though, she slithered into a drain and disappeared from view.

“Shit!” Harry cursed, “Howard, what’s down there?”

“It’s the sewage outlet for the castle,” Howard replied, “The emergency wards that you put up don’t extend below the earth, do they?”

“No,” Harry muttered irritably, “Which means the minute she gets into an open space she’ll apparate away.”

“And we can’t go after her?” Jason asked.

Harry shook his head, “My animagus form is a phoenix and Draco’s is a dragon. Neither of us is small enough to follow her down there. She’s gone.”

“How did she get in?” Howard asked, standing up shakily.

Harry gripped the older man by the arm and said, “Temporal disruption charm. It confused your wards, have you been changing them every 24 hours like I told you to?”

“Yes, they were changed this morning,” Howard replied, lowering himself into an armchair.

“Which means she’s very good at hacking wards,” Draco said darkly, meeting Harry’s eye.

Harry nodded, “Who else is in the castle?”

“Hannah, Hamish and Nina,” Howard replied sharply, “Why? Do you think she went after them first?”

“I don’t know,” Harry replied, “Terry?”

Terry cast a charm and frowned, “I’m registering four magical signatures on the premises, out-with this room.”

“Lucia?” Draco guessed.

Harry shook his head, “She’s below the house, not in the premises. It will be Hannah’s baby; she’s past the three-month point now, the baby will have a magical signature. Is one of them weak, Terry?”

Terry nodded.

“Yeah, it’s the baby,” Harry said, “So you don’t have to worry about it being a squib, Howie.”

Howard rolled his eyes, “That is the least of my worries right now. Surviving this massacre is far more important.”

“Yes, it is,” Harry agreed, “But this goes to show that having you under surveillance works. We were able to get here on time.”

Howard nodded, “Indeed. Thank you for responding so quickly.”

Harry smiled, “It’s what we do. Refresh your wards and lock everything up before you go to bed. I very much doubt that she will come back, but you are better to be safe than sorry.”

“Agreed, thank you, Harry.”

Harry bowed his head, then motioned to the rest of his team, “Let’s go.”

They were silent as they crossed the courtyard and exited through the gatehouse, but once they were outside, Harry said, “We’ve spooked her.”

“Which means she won’t attack for a while?” Terry guessed, “Because she knows that we can track her now.”

“I don’t think that’s what it means,” Harry admitted with a frown, “It just means she’s going to have to get smarter.”

Draco nodded, “She won’t give up that easily,” he agreed.

* * *

That night, Harry and Draco were on map duty. They passed the early evening by playing poker, and Harry lost every single time. When he got tired of being beaten, they moved onto wizards chess at which Harry stood a chance. When he had beaten Draco for the third time over the course of five games, they called it a night and looked over at the maps.

“Everything looks in order,” Draco said. The clock had just ticked to 6 am; they wouldn’t have long until the others came in and relieved them now.

Harry nodded, “How are things with you guys?” he motioned to the map of numbers 11 and 12 Grimmauld Place. It hadn’t escaped his notice that nobody had spent the night in number 11.

“Good,” Draco answered, “Theo, Sadie and the kids have moved in. They’re selling number 11, no offence, I know it was a wedding gift.”

Harry shook his head, “None taken. There’s no sense in them staying there if it's affecting Theo’s mental health. It’s a bit tight though, isn’t it? All of you in number 12?”

“It’s manageable, but I’m working on a solution,” Draco answered.

“You’re going to buy a house together, aren’t you?” Harry guessed.

“Something like that,” Draco said evasively.

“Hey, no judgement here. I’m moving my entire Manor to the Lake District,” Harry admitted.

Draco looked up, “Are you?”

“Yeah, she has her reasons, but it’s not my place to say what they are. Regardless, Daphne wants to be closer to Lilly,” Harry said, “And after everything that happened, I’m not going to complain about being closer to Nev.”

Draco nodded, “I can understand that,” he said, glancing over at the maps again, “Harry…would the Parkinson’s have gone out in the middle of the night?”

Harry frowned at the map of Parkinson House, “No…they were there when we did our last check of the maps at 5 am, weren’t they?”

“Yeah, they were upstairs, presumably in their bedroom,” Draco answered, “But if Lucia had gone there, the alarm would have gone off.”

Harry’s eyes widened, “If _Lucia_ had gone there,” he said, “We’ve been assuming that she’s working alone but if she isn’t….”

“She could have sent someone else to kill them,” Draco said, pushing himself to his feet.

They left the bullpen silently and made sure to lock the door behind them. When the two men apparated to Parkinson House, they immediately knew that there had been foul play.

The wards had been ripped down with a dodgy home-made spell, “Lucia would have been more refined than that,” Harry said as they walked through the open gates.

Draco nodded his agreement, and they walked up the path together to the door, which was blowing in the wind. They already knew what they were going to find; there had been no dots on the map, which meant that the Parkinson’s were dead.

They found the bodies in their bedroom. They were on their knees, slumped against the wall like the rest of them had been.

“Dammit!” Draco cursed, turning around and kicking the door as hard as he could.

Harry sighed and grabbed his arm, “Draco-”

“It wasn’t enough that I failed their daughter?” Draco bellowed, “Pansy is dead **because** of me. She died _for_ me and now this? I couldn’t even protect her family!”

“Nobody could have!” Harry snapped, “I didn’t think of this either, did I?”

Draco shook his head angrily.

“And we didn’t expect her to kill again so soon after Matthias,” Harry added.

The quote that Lucia had left on the greenhouse wall when she killed Matthias Jones was, “ _Peace does not just mean putting an end to violence or war, but to all other factors that threaten peace such as discrimination, inequality and justice.”_

This time, the quote on the wall above the Parkinson’s bodies read,

_“Freedom is never granted; it is won. Justice is never given; it is exacted.”_

“We’ve pissed her off,” Harry said, motioning to the quote.

“Good,” Draco said darkly, “People make mistakes when they’re angry, and that’s what we need her to do.”

“But we’re back to square one now,” Harry said quietly. He sounded utterly defeated, “The maps are useless!”

Draco shook his head, “No, we’re not.”

Harry looked at him in disbelief, “ _How_?”

“She used someone else,” Draco said, “If the sloppy way he destroyed the wards is anything to go on, there’s a much higher chance that he left DNA evidence of some sort. Let’s get the bodies portkeyed over to the morgue and sweep the scene thoroughly. If we can catch an apprentice, it will lead us to her.”

“It’s a longshot,” Harry said with a heavy sigh.

“But longshots are all we have right now,” Draco admitted.

“Yeah,” Harry agreed grudgingly, “Let’s sweep the scene and see what we can find.”

* * *

Draco was meant to have gone home when everyone else came in at 9 am. However, thanks to the double homicide of Oberon and Hyacinth Parkinson, he didn’t drag himself through the door until midday. He apologised to Hermione and headed straight to bed because he was exhausted. By the time he woke up, it was nearly dinner-time, and he could smell something delicious wafting up the stairs.

He walked into the kitchen and smiled at Theo, “You’re cooking.”

“Yeah, I must be feeling better, right?” Theo joked, shooting him a smile, “You look like shit.”

“I feel it,” Draco admitted, sitting down on a barstool so he could stay close to Theo while he cooked, “I should have been home at 9 am this morning, I didn’t get home till afternoon because Lucia killed the Parkinson’s.”

Theo’s eyes widened, “How did she manage that?” Theo asked with a frown, “I thought the maps could detect her.”

“They can, but she’s grown wise to that after we stopped her from killing the Abbotts,” Draco said bitterly, “So she sent someone else to kill the Parkinson’s and I couldn’t protect them.”

Theo looked his friend in the eye, “Looking after her parents was never your responsibility.”

“Yes, it was,” Draco said irritably, “Pansy’s death was on me, Theo.”

“She made a choice, Draco,” Theo said, abandoning his cooking for a moment and leaning against the breakfast bar.

Now that they were on a level, Draco caught Theo’s eye and held his gaze for a moment.

“She chose you,” Theo said softly, “She would have chosen you over and over again.”

“She loved me more than I loved her,” Draco said, the guilt he felt over the situation apparent.

“Yeah, she did,” Theo agreed, “But she chose to jump in front of that curse for you and for a long time, I was angry about that too. I missed her, I felt regret about what happened but now…” he shook his head and looked Draco in the eye, “Now I thank her every day because she’s the reason that you’re still here.”

Draco swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded.

“Not going to kiss me this time?” Theo joked, a grin slipping onto his face.

Draco smiled slightly and leant back, “Shut up.”

Theo chuckled and stepped back over to the cooker. He gave the frying pan a shake and said, “By the way. You do realise that I can fix your little glitch with the maps, don’t you?”

“No,” Draco said sharply, “How?”

“If you can get a list of authorised persons from the family of each estate, I can spell the map for you,” Theo said, “It’s a similar spell to the one I used on them all to detect Lucia. Only this one would set the alarm going for anyone who the owner had not put on the authorised person list.”

Draco stared at him, “You’re a genius.”

“I know,” Theo smirked, “When are you going to stop underestimating me?”

“I’m sorry,” Draco admitted, “But that spell that you said you could do, can you do it tonight?”

Theo thought about this for a moment, “If I pull an all-nighter, yes.”

“You would need to come into the Ministry and do it,” Draco said, “But everyone will be gone. It’ll just be you and the baby Aurors.”

“Who are the baby Aurors again?” Theo asked.

“Benedict Smith and Owen Cauldwell, Sadie’s little cousin,” Draco replied, “I can’t say much for Owen yet, but I like Ben. He’s a smart kid; he has his head screwed on.”

“Isn’t he the Slytherin kid who got the shit beaten out of him for having a Gryffindor boyfriend?” Theo mused.

Draco frowned, “I don’t know. I know he’s dating a guy called Dan.”

“Yeah, that’s him,” Theo remembered, “Hermione went nuts about it when Minerva told her, remember? She had a big rant about equality and house unity.”

“That does ring a bell, but she does that so often its hard to pinpoint one occasion,” Draco said with a grin.

Theo snorted, “Don’t let her hear you say that. She’s in a foul mood today.”

“Thanks for the warning, but why?”

“Apparently Ella has left the terrible twos behind her but has now entered the ‘threenager’ phase. Remember when Mina went through that?” Theo asked with a shake of his head.

Draco sniggered, “She’s still going through that phase, she’s a little diva.”

“She gets that from her father,” Sadie said as she stepped into the kitchen, “And that smells amazing.”

“I have missed your fajitas,” Draco admitted.

“Me too,” Sadie said.

“Me three,” Hermione added as she shepherded the kids into the kitchen, “You’re the only one who can cook decent Mexican food, Theo.”

“You can thank Dora for that one,” Theo said with a smile, “My father was useless, it was Dora who taught me how to cook.”

Theo had seemed like a different person over the last couple of days, he was far more like his old self, but it was clear that he still had a long way to go. He flinched a lot, and he still slept dreadfully because of the nightmares.

“I need to borrow your husband tonight,” Draco said as he spun in his seat, “For the whole night.”

Sadie raised an eyebrow at him, “Do you?”

Theo chuckled, “Not like that. He needs me to amend the maps.”

“Why?” Hermione asked curiously.

“Because the minute Lucia worked out that we could track her, she sent an apprentice to do her bidding,” Draco answered, “The Parkinson’s were killed this morning.”

“Oh,” Hermione bit her lip, “That’s terrible. Are you okay, Draco?”

Theo shook his head behind Draco’s back, but it was too late because Hermione had already asked the question.

Draco sighed, “I’ll be fine,” he said.

“Is that the truth?” Sadie murmured as she slipped past Theo to take plates out of the cupboard.

“He feels guilty, but he will be okay,” Theo whispered back. Before she could move away to put the plates on the table, Theo grabbed her for a kiss.

Hermione smiled at the interaction, “It’s nice to see.”

Draco smiled genuinely, “Yes, it is. He’s doing much better, isn’t he?”

Hermione nodded and laughed as Sadie managed to wriggle out of Theo’s embrace.

Theo grinned and spooned his fajita mixture into a bowl, “Less talk of murder, more talk of food, _disfrutar_!”

“Why did you say that in Spanish?” Draco asked his best friend.

“He’s bored!” Hermione called as she set the table.

“He’s been teaching himself Spanish and German to pass the time,” Sadie added.

Draco shook his head and shot Theo an affectionate smile, “Never change mate.”

“I don’t plan on it!”

* * *

After dinner, Draco floo-ed Harry and told him that Theo had saved the day with his massive brain. They called the rest of the team in and split up to gather a list of authorised persons for each household. By the time they reconvened in the homicide bullpen, it was 9 pm.

“Theo!” Harry said with a grin, “It’s nice to see you back.”

“Temporarily,” Theo said, “Just to help out with these maps. Once you catch her, I’m handing my notice in.”

“Yeah?” Harry asked.

Theo nodded, “I nearly lost everything this time. I don’t want to put my family through that again, I’m done being an Auror, but it was a fun five years.”

“We all understand that,” Harry promised, “Do you know what you’ll do next?”

“I’ve no idea, but I’m sure I’ll work it out,” Theo admitted with a smile, “Are you ready for me to charm the maps?”

“Yep,” Harry said, “A list for each house. Make sure when you two make up yours, you don’t forget anyone. We don’t want a ton of false alarms going off.”

“We don’t need to include anyone apart from Harry and Neville’s brood, do we? Oh, and your mother,” Theo said.

“And your step-mother,” Draco said.

Theo nodded, “Sadie doesn’t let her mother come to the house.”

“Hermione’s parents do,” Harry pointed out.

“Oh shit, I forgot about her parents,” Draco muttered, “Yeah, we had better include them.”

“And Susan,” Theo said, “She and Addison have playdates with Sadie and the twins sometimes.”

Harry shook his head and turned to the rest of the team, “While they work out their domestic, did you all manage to get a list from the people we sent you to talk to?”

Jason nodded, “Yep. Here you go, boss.”

Ben handed over a pile of parchment too.

“Good job guys,” Harry yawned, “Ben, Owen. You two okay for map duty tonight?”

“Yes boss,” Ben replied.

Owen nodded, “Yep,” he echoed.

“Good, you’ll be spending it with Theo while he charms the maps,” Harry said, “He’ll do one at a time for minimum disruption, and he will talk a lot of shit while he does it.”

“Oi!” Theo objected.

Harry grinned at his friend then turned back to the baby Aurors, “There are a few rules when Theo-sitting. Don’t get him wet, don’t expose him to bright light and the most important one? Don’t feed him coffee after midnight.”

Owen raised an eyebrow at Harry, “Did you just quote gremlins at us?”

Theo snorted, “Ignore your big hotshot boss. I could tell you stories about him by the way, I knew him before his big-headed ‘I’m the youngest Assistant Head Auror’ days. I know so many embarrassing stories about his school days.”

Harry just rolled his eyes.

“The only rule is don’t piss me off,” Theo said to the Junior Aurors, “You can talk to me unless I tell you to shut up. If I tell you to shut up, it’s because I’m concentrating, not because I’m being a dick and when I am no longer concentrating I will say, you can speak now.”

“Same rules as Snape had really,” Ben mused, “Don’t piss him off and he’ll teach you some useful stuff. Piss him off, and he’ll treat you like an idiot.”

“I’m moderately offended that you just likened me to Snape, but in principle, you’re right,” Theo said, raising an eyebrow at Ben, “Don’t do it again though, I’m far less slimy.”

“And much better looking,” Ben added.

Draco snorted, “So now we know what Ben’s type is,” he said, patting Theo on the back, “Have a good night, Theo.”

Theo smirked, “What can I say? I’m just irresistible to both sexes.”

Harry didn’t miss the knowing look exchanged between Draco and Theo upon that comment, but he also didn’t mention it.

Ben chuckled, “I’ve got a boyfriend, remember?”

“Yes, the fabled Dan,” Harry said with a roll of his eyes, “You’ll hear about twenty stories about how great Dan is tonight, Theo. Ben doesn’t shut up about him, does he, Owen?”

Owen shook his head, “No,” he said in a long-suffering tone of voice.

“Ah well, we’ve all been young and in love,” Theo said, clapping Ben on the shoulder, “Remember those days Draco? How many years did you spend pining after Hermione?”

“A few less than you spent pining after Sadie,” Draco retorted, “Do you want me to stay with you tonight or are you going to manage?”

“Ah, you go home, I’ll be fine with these two,” Theo said with a relaxed smile.

“Alright,” Draco eyed him warily, “But you floo me if you need me, alright?”

“Uh-huh,” Theo said simply.

“Night, Theo,” Harry said, opening the door and waving at him.

Theo waved goodnight to Harry, Draco, Jason and Terry. When the bullpen door swung shut, Ben shot Theo an amused smile and whispered, “Boyfriends, nightmare aren’t they?”

Theo snorted in amusement, “Yeah, I can see why Draco likes you kid. Now, which one of you is smarter?”

“Ben.”

“Me.”

Theo laughed, “Right then, Owen; you watch those maps. Ben, you’re going to help me enchant them.”

“Sweet.”

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	26. We're Up Against the Wall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:
> 
> Battleborn by The Killers.

“How’s your day going?” Neville asked when Harry walked into Longbottom House at lunch-time.

“Well, no one’s died,” Harry answered.

Neville raised an eyebrow at him, “Those are your standards?”

“Right now? Yeah,” Harry said, sighing heavily, “How are you?”

“I’m okay,” Neville said honestly, “Walking is getting a lot easier. It will be a few months before I can lift or bend mind you.”

“But you’ll have the all-clear before the twins are born, won’t you?” Harry asked him.

“Unless something goes wrong, yeah,” Neville said with a smile.

“How is Lil? Did that disgusting tea that Daphne gave her help?” Harry asked conversationally.

“It stops her throwing up, but it stinks,” Neville snorted, “She says she’ll take that over the constant sickness though.”

“Good,” Harry said with a smile, “You want some shitty food? I brought McDonald's.”

Neville laughed, “Yeah. You gonna tell me why you’re here then?”

“I honestly don’t have a reason, as pathetic as that sounds,” Harry admitted, he looked up at Neville, “Draco’s happy now. Him and Theo are back together, and they all live together at the moment, did you know about that?”

Neville nodded.

“We’re moving the Manor soon, but Daphne and Bill aren’t quite ready yet, and honestly I just…miss you,” Harry confessed.

Neville smiled, “I miss you too. We got used to seeing each other every day, didn’t we?”

“Yeah,” Harry said, throwing a couple of chips into his mouth, “It’s been a big adjustment for all of us, this past month.”

“We’ll get there though,” Neville promised, “It will get easier when you move the house, and after you’ve caught Lucia.”

Harry scoffed, “If I ever do. Theo re-enchanted the maps last night after what happened with the Parkinson’s, but I’m starting to give up. She’s smart, Nev, so much smarter than me.”

“Intelligence isn’t everything,” Neville said firmly, “Did you find any DNA evidence at the scene?”

Harry shook his head, “Justin is hoping to get back to me by the end of today with the results of the post-mortem, but I doubt that anything will come of it. The results of every other post-mortem have been positively useless.”

“Yes, but it was a different killer this time,” Neville reminded him, “So don’t give up. When you give up, that _is_ the end.”

“Easier said than done when it’s been bogging you down for a month though,” Harry said bitterly, “And in that month she’s killed ten people.”

“Voldemort killed far more,” Neville said.

“Over several years,” Harry objected, “Not over one month.”

“I suppose,” Neville conceded.

Harry opened his mouth to rant about the case some more, but before he could a silver otter bounded through the window and landed in front of Harry at the table.

_“Post-mortem is in, Justin found something! I swear I could kiss him! Get your arse in here and quit flirting with Neville. Don’t even pretend you aren’t – I can see you on the map!”_

“Why is Draco such an arse?”

“Stop complaining,” Neville said with a grin, “That’s what you wanted. Get your arse into the ministry and find out what’s going on. I’ll catch up with you tonight, maybe.”

Harry nodded and dashed out of the house as quickly as he could.

* * *

“What have you got for me, Justin?” Harry asked when he stepped into the morgue.

Justin smirked and held up a bag with a tiny, thin hair in it.

Harry’s eyes lit up, “Human?”

“Human. I found it on Hyacinth’s body,” Justin replied, “I ran some tests on it so I can tell you that your killer has dark blonde hair and is caucasian. _But_ I can go one better than that for you.”

“How?” Harry and Draco asked eagerly.

“When I found the hair, I examined Hyacinth’s body more closely, and I found a fingerprint. I scanned it to see if he was known to us, and he isn’t, but he is known to the muggle authorities.”

“He has a record with the muggle police?” Harry asked in surprise.

Justin nodded, “For petty theft mostly. I obtained this from the metropolitan police.”

He handed a brown file over, and Harry opened it.

“Damion Mosely.”

“He’s your killer,” Justin said.

Harry grinned and grabbed Justin. He kissed him on the cheek, “I love you, Justin!” he called as he dashed out of the room.

Justin looked stunned, and Draco said, “Yeah, I only kiss one guy, and it’s not you – sorry, Justin.”

He patted the medical examiner on the shoulder then followed Harry out of the room. Draco knew exactly where he had gone, and plainly enough, he found him in the record room pouring over a file.

“Did you find him?” Draco asked.

Harry nodded, “He was born in 1987, he was in Slytherin, and we have a permanent address for him.”

Draco smirked, “Are we going to bring him in then?”

“Hell yes, we are.”

* * *

Draco watched through the one-way mirror as Harry interrogated Damien, a scared-looking eighteen-year-old who would not tell Harry anything. Harry had played bad cop, but it had had no effect on the kid.

After half an hour, he gave up and stormed out of the interrogation room. The door to the observation room opened, and Harry stepped in, shutting the door behind him, “You need to talk to that kid Draco.”

“Why?” Draco asked curiously.

“Because I look at that kid and I just see you,” Harry admitted, “I see you in sixth year. He is a pile of regret and pain and confusion. He doesn’t want this, but Lucia must have some hold over him.”

Draco swallowed but nodded. Harry wasn’t wrong; he had noticed the similarities too.

Draco left the observation room, and Harry watched with interest when he entered the interrogation room.

Damien narrowed his eyes at Draco as he stalked in and sat down in a chair opposite the table.

“What are you then, good cop?”

Draco raised an eyebrow at him, “Little tip for you Damien; there is a time and place for mouthy-ness and that time and place is _not_ when you have just been arrested for a double homicide.”

Damien’s eyes flashed.

Draco leant back in his chair, “Now, I’m not going to treat you like a stupid kid. You were a Slytherin like myself, so you must have a brain. You know that you are over 17 and will, therefore, be punished as an adult. My colleague also told you that we have enough evidence to use veritaserum on you; that’s not a lie. If the veritaserum test brings up enough evidence, which it will, I guarantee you; we then move onto a legilimency test. Trust me; it is far easier if you talk to us now because otherwise, we will see everything. I’m sure there are a lot of things that you don’t want us to see, but we can uncover _every_ secret you have ever kept. Because that’s the thing with legilimency, the more you think about the things you don’t want us to see, the more you bring them forward _for_ us to see.”

Damien swallowed.

Draco surveyed the boy, “Now, personally, I think you’re a good kid. Misunderstood maybe, but you were a muggle-born in a school house that hated them, so I guess you learned to scrap pretty young.”

Damien nodded.

“Good kids don’t commit double homicides,” Draco continued, “Just like good kids don’t become Death Eaters. You know about the Death Eaters, don’t you?”

“Obviously.”

“So you know what you had to do to become a Death Eater?” Draco prodded.

“Kill a muggle,” Damien said distastefully.

“Yeah, kill a muggle,” Draco agreed, “Now, I thought I was a pretty good kid, and I became a Death Eater, I killed a muggle. I did that because when I was a kid, I was forced into it. Voldemort threatened my family and my own life, and I was a coward.”

Damien swallowed again.

“If you were forced into it, you will not get the Dementors kiss,” Draco promised him, “If Lucia made you do it, either with mental manipulation, blackmail, or the imperius curse, you will get a lesser sentence. You understand that, don’t you?”

“If I tell you anything, she’ll kill me,” Damien said.

“No, she won’t,” Draco promised, “Because if you tell us what we need to know, we will catch her, and she _will_ get the Dementors kiss.”

Damien shook his head and looked down at his hands.

“She will be punished, Damien,” Draco said, “But you are _always_ going to have the blood of Oberon and Hyacinth Parkinson on your hands. If you never confess to that, that guilt will drive you insane, trust me.”

Damien looked up and caught Draco’s eye.

“Trust me,” Draco said again, “I am not that good a liar. I did terrible things, and repenting for them was all that kept me sane. I was just a kid, and someone told me that I could forge a better path for myself, and I did. Look at me now.”

Draco held the boys gaze, “You’re just a kid too. You don’t have to become this person. You still have a chance to do the right thing and tell us what you know before she kills someone else, or before she makes another innocent kid like you kill someone else.”

This seemed to work. Damien looked down and nodded, “She looked after me in school. I was in 1st year, and the other Slytherins hated me for being a muggle-born. One day they were beating me up in the dungeons, and she cursed them all and took me under her wing. She was in 5th year then, and she knew all of these weird spells. She used them on the kids who were bullying me and told them that I was under her protection then they left me alone.”

“So they were afraid of her?” Draco asked.

Damien nodded, “When I left school, she asked me to work for her. She said she wanted to get rid of the purebloods and make the wizarding world a fairer place and I liked that idea. It was purebloods who beat me up when I was a kid, you know?”

Draco nodded, “I understand that.”

“But I didn’t know she’d kill them all,” Damien said, his voice shook, “I didn’t know she would make me shoot someone.”

“How did she get you to do that?” Draco asked calmly.

“She asked me to meet her in Knockturn Alley in the basement of this building that had been a shop, but it got destroyed in a fire,” Damien explained, “So I did. When I got there she…”

“Whatever it is, it’s okay,” Draco said softly, “You can tell me.”

Damien’s cheeks flushed, “She uh…she said some things about how I had grown up so much and I uh…I slept with her.”

“Okay,” Draco said, unphased by this revelation.

“Then she told me that if I killed the Parkinson’s, I could be her second in command,” Damien continued quietly, “She said that I could always be by her side, just like Seamus had been.”

“So she and Seamus were romantically involved?” Draco queried.

Damien nodded, “I said I would do it, but when I got there, I got scared. She had done this spell to bind our magic, and she said she could feel my emotions through it. When I got scared, she must have done something because I lost control of my body, and then everything went black like I had fainted. When I came around, I was on my knees in the bedroom of Parkinson House, and they were both dead.”

Draco nodded and said calmly, “So what she did, Damien, was she possessed you.”

Damien’s eyes widened, “What?”

“And she could do that again because a magical bind like that does not just disappear, it needs to be broken,” Draco continued, “So we are going to have to lock you in here quite securely in case she tries to retake control. I am going to get the best curse-breakers I know out here ASAP, and they are going to break that bond so that she cannot do that to you again. Do you understand?”

Damien nodded, his eyes were wide with terror.

“I’ll be as fast as I can, but try not to panic. If she senses that you are panicking, she might try it again, okay?” Draco said.

“Yeah,” Damien took a deep breath, “Okay.”

Draco left the interrogation room and met Harry in the corridor.

“I’ll ward the room; you need to get Daphne and Bill here as fast as you can.”

“I’m on it.”

* * *

“Do you think he’ll give us names?” Harry asked Draco.

The blond man nodded. They were in the observation room watching Bill and Daphne work on breaking the magic bond between Damien and Lucia.

“Yes, but I wasn’t going to ask him for them until after we had broken this bond,” Draco admitted, “We know Lucia is tricky and clever. For all we know, she’s also a good actress. We would have no idea if we were talking to her or Damien.”

“That’s a scary thought,” Harry said, “Mind you, I remember living it. I didn’t understand that it was because I was a Horcrux, but I did know that Voldemort was in my head, and that scared me.”

“Think how scared that poor kid is,” Draco said with a sigh, “Put yourself in 12-year-old Ginny Weasley’s shoes.”

“Being forced to do terrible things but still having to live with them,” Harry finished, “I know.”

A yell from inside the interrogation room put Draco and Harry on edge. Daphne and Bill had both jumped back after Damien’s body went stiff.

“Get out of there!” Harry yelled through the glass.

Daphne and Bill did so, and they warded the door behind them. Damien opened his eyes, and they were white as if a cloud had covered up all of the colour. He opened his mouth, and it was immediately apparent that although they came from his mouth, the words were not his own.

“Back off Potter, or my next target will be your pretty little pureblood wife and her father. Who is it that her father is married to again? Oh yes, _your_ mother, Black.”

Harry’s jaw set and Draco glared through the glass even though she couldn’t see him.

Lucia, in the form of Damien, smirked cruelly.

“I know that France is beautiful at this time of year, but I wouldn’t advise a trip. I know where all of your houses are, not to mention where all of the ministry safe houses are. Damien won’t be spilling any more secrets to you either, because I’m about to stop his heart.”

Damien’s eyes rolled back into his head, and his body began to convulse.

“She can’t kill him; we need that information!” Draco exclaimed.

Harry ran into the interrogation room and pointed his wand at Damien, “Legilimens!”

He was thrust into the boys subconscious where he was faced with a ghostly version of Lucia. Her eyes were a deep red, her skin far paler than usual and her blonde hair was pure white. It took all of the mental power Harry had to push her out of Damien’s head, she fought him until the last gasp, but he beat her, and as he did, Damien gasped for breath, his eyes looking around wildly.

Harry drew back and leant against the wall; he was breathing heavily. Fighting someone in a duel was one thing, but forcing them out of someone’s head was far more difficult.

Bill and Daphne came back into the room. Bill said that they had almost been there when Lucia took over, so as Daphne helped Harry to his feet, Bill uttered the incantation that broke the link between Damien and Lucia.

“Names, Damien,” Draco said, walking into the room, “We need the names of _anyone_ she helped, anyone like you.”

Damien nodded and began to spout off names, ages and Hogwarts houses of Lucia’s potential apprentices. Finally, Harry thought, _finally_ they were getting close to her.

* * *

The homicide team gathered in the bullpen, and Harry pinned up a list of names, “These are all of the people who are likely to be associated with Lucia. Memorise those names and scan the maps for them _constantly._ She is pissed off, and she will strike again soon.”

“Assuming she hasn’t killed again by then, we are going to strike against her tomorrow night,” Draco continued, “She threatened the Greengrass family, so we are going to use Greengrass House as bait. Cygnus and my mother are in France so Ben and Owen, you’re going to polyjuice into them.”

“I’m going to end up being Narcissa, aren’t I?” Ben asked.

“Yep,” Owen replied.

“It’s because I’m gay, isn’t it?”

Harry shot Ben a warning look, “Not now, Ben.”

“Sorry, Harry.”

Harry cleared his throat, “Jace, Terry; you are going to guard the perimeter and Draco and I will lay in wait inside. When she comes to kill the Greengrass’s, we are going to arrest her, or kill her if we have to.”

“Are we clear on that?” Draco asked.

The rest of the team nodded.

“Good,” Harry said, “Ben, Owen. Since you two will have the least dangerous job tomorrow, you are going to guard the maps tonight. Jason, Terry, go home and rest because you will need to be on the ball tomorrow night.”

All four men nodded.

Harry gave them all a brisk nod, “Unless anything goes remarkably wrong, tomorrow is the day that we get Lucia Cross.”

He stalked out the room, and the rest of the team breathed a sigh of relief.

“That was intense,” Terry said quietly.

“Lucia threatened his wife,” Draco said in a low voice, “Which means that she underestimates one vital thing about Harry.”

“Which is?” Jason asked.

“How much he loves Daphne Greengrass,” Draco said darkly, “If anyone tries to take her from him, he will rip the world apart with his bare hands, and for some reason, that doesn’t terrify me.”

The team were silent.

“More importantly, Lucia finally made a mistake,” Draco said darkly, “And as small as that mistake may seem, it has turned the tables. She has been hunting Purebloods, but she just became _our_ prey.”

He walked to the door and stopped in the doorway, “Sleep well, guys. Tomorrow is the big hunt.”

* * *

Before Draco went home that night, he went to Potter Manor to check in on Harry. When he walked out of the fireplace into the drawing-room, he came face to face with Neville.

“You here about Harry?”

“Yeah, he didn’t…?”

“He hasn’t relapsed,” Neville assured Draco, “But he is not in a good place considering what’s happening tomorrow.”

“No, I didn’t think he was when he stormed out of the ministry earlier,” Draco confessed, “But since you’re here, I’ll head home and let you deal with him.”

“No,” Neville said sharply, “It has to be you, Draco.”

Draco turned around, “But you’re his best friend, Neville. You’re the only one who can get through to him.”

“That used to be true,” Neville said, a sad smile finding its way onto his face, “But not anymore. I’m still his best friend, but I’m not his Auror partner anymore. I can’t help him through this because I haven’t been hunting her for a month. I’ve been lying in a hospital bed or stuck in my house recuperating while you two chased her. It’s you that he needs tonight, Draco.”

Draco’s frown deepened, “And you’re okay with that?”

“I don’t have much choice, do I? You were jealous when Theo came here after what he did to Sadie,” Neville pointed out, “I guess it’s time for Theo and me to get jealous.”

Draco chuckled at the joke, “Where is he?”

“Out in the snake cabin,” Neville answered.

“Ugh,” Draco groaned, “This is a sign of how good a partner I am, I fucking hate snakes.”

“I know you do,” Neville sniggered, “It’s ironic, really.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “Ha-ha,” he muttered as he walked past Neville and headed outside. He crossed the damp grounds and opened the door of the snake cabin tentatively. Harry was sitting on the floor with Dave.

“Hey,” Draco said quietly.

Harry looked up, “You’re terrified of snakes.”

“I know, but I need to talk to you,” Draco said, eying Dave warily.

Harry hissed something at him in parseltongue then turned to Draco, “Shut the door.”

Draco pushed the door shut and asked, “What did you just say to him?”

“I told him you were scared of snakes so if he was a dick, I’d feed him another Niffler,” Harry said with a grin.

Dave hissed something at Harry.

Harry rolled his eyes and hissed back. Then he turned back to Draco, “Then he asked if he could crush you and I said no, this is my Auror partner Draco and I’m quite fond of him.”

Draco smiled weakly and sat down on the floor opposite Harry, with the huge Boa in-between them, “I nearly killed that kid today.”

“You didn’t,” Harry said softly, “You couldn’t have known that Lucia would do what she did.”

“I had a feeling that she would try and take control,” Draco admitted, “But I didn’t think she would try and kill him. I shouldn’t have underestimated her.”

“We all underestimated her,” Harry said, running his hand over Dave’s head, “It’s what makes her so dangerous.”

Draco sighed and shook his head, “You know what’s sad? That kid…he was just acting that way because he’s scared. He wants everyone to be terrified and run away from him so that he can feel powerful, and Lucia was his way to the top.”

Harry nodded.

“I know what that’s like,” Draco said quietly. He couldn’t stop thinking about his darkest days, ever since he had seen that kid earlier, “I could have been him, Harry.”

“No, you would never have been him, Draco,” Harry said firmly, “That kid is a coward and regardless of anything else I might have said about you back then, you were not a coward.”

Draco scoffed.

“Would a coward try and help a mudblood?” Harry asked sharply.

Draco frowned.

“Would a coward throw me my wand in the final battle?” Harry continued, “Hell, would a coward go back to the man he was terrified of to protect his pregnant girlfriend? No, you are _not_ a coward.”

“But I could have ended up like Lucia,” Draco argued, “If it hadn’t been for Theo. If he hadn’t kept me grounded during the war…”

“There’s no point dwelling on what you could have been,” Harry said, “We can’t turn back time and even if we could, would we? I used to wonder what my life would have been like if my parents had lived, but there’s a chance that I wouldn’t be with Daphne in a world where my parents were alive, and I would not change a second of our life together.”

“I wouldn’t either,” Draco admitted, “For all her quirks and all the random creatures she adopts, I love Hermione more than anything, and I would never change our life.”

“So don’t dwell,” Harry said simply.

Draco nodded and looked down at Dave, “I was worried you were having dark thoughts. I thought you might flip tomorrow.”

Harry shook his head, “I am having dark thoughts, but I don’t intend to kill her unless I have to.”

“Good,” Draco said, “Because you got away with it once, but you won’t get away with it again, even if she is a mass murderer. Kingsley is going to want solid proof, a trial and then she will get the Dementors kiss.”

“I know what Kingsley wants,” Harry said stiffly, “But if she puts any of my men at risk, I will kill her.”

Draco watched him with concern for a minute then sighed, “I won’t say anything to try and stop you because I know it wouldn’t make a difference but…this whole situation with Lucia…the back and forth…it just makes me feel so powerless.”

“I feel the same way some days,” Harry admitted, “This has been the toughest case we’ve worked, and we’ve had to do it without the Auror partners that we spent five years working with. You and I were thrown in at the deep end, but I think we’ve done okay, all things considered.”

Draco nodded.

“It’s a scary world, Draco,” Harry said softly, “We both know that. Everyone else thought that they were safe because Voldemort was gone, but you and I have always known that where there is magic, there are those who seek to exploit it.”

“There will always be another dark lord,” Draco agreed quietly.

“And it’s our job to stop them before they get out of control, _like_ Voldemort,” Harry said, meeting Draco’s eye, “We can see the darker side of this world that others can’t. People die, trust is betrayed, and things change. But change can be a good thing. It can bring new experiences, new opportunities, _people_.”

Draco swallowed and nodded.

“Look at us. We both felt a little nervous about an eighth year, but it was the best thing for both of us. Without it, there would be no me and Daphne. There would be no you and Hermione, maybe even no you and Theo,” Harry said.

Draco swallowed and nodded.

“And it’s the same for this situation,” Harry assured Draco, “Theo and Neville’s injuries have changed our world again, and yes, it’s hard, but our partnership would never have happened without that change.”

“True,” Draco agreed.

“The universe has a plan,” Harry said with a smile, “And all we can do is trust that everything is going to be okay.”

“Yeah,” Draco mused, rubbing his eyes, “Maybe you’re right.”

Harry smiled, “Go home, rest and come in fresh-faced tomorrow. With any luck, tomorrow will be the day.”

“Yeah, goodnight Harry.”

“Goodnight, Draco.”

* * *

Harry had informed the team to have a lie in that morning since the ambush would happen late at night. As such, _he_ was ambushed by his family before he could leave for work. Lilly was the first to corner him as he made his way downstairs.

“Don’t do anything rash today,” She said quietly.

Harry raised an eyebrow at her, “Would I?”

“Would you, Harry Potter, the king of rash decisions, do anything rash?” Lilly countered, “I think there’s a fairly high likelihood, yeah.”

“I used to do stupid, rash things but I have a family now,” Harry reminded her, “And I would do anything to come back home to that. I will stop Lucia, whatever it takes but I promise, no jumping in front of killing curses.”

Lilly nodded and let go of his wrist, “Okay.”

“But if I do die, are you gonna name one of the kids' Harry?”

“What if they are girls?” Lilly joked.

“Harriette, lovely name!” Harry teased as he dashed downstairs.

“Shut up!” Lilly called after him.

In the kitchen, he was ambushed once more—this time by his wife. Teddy was at school, but Andrea and Alastor were here. They were playing in the garden in a small fenced-off area that Daphne could see from the kitchen window. It was a dry, but cold day so they were all bundled up in snowsuits, gloves, hats and scarves.

“You’re looking at them like you might never see them again,” Daphne said quietly.

“I don’t think it will be that bad,” Harry promised, “We know what we’re dealing with now. We didn’t when we went to get Theo out.”

“There were also a lot more of you then and look at what happened to Jack, Neville, Rob and Sorenson,” Daphne said quietly, “I am not a trophy wife, I am your best friend and more than your equal. We are a team, Harry, so don’t lie to me. Don’t sugar-coat this.”

“I know you’re my equal, babe,” Harry promised, pulling her into a hug, “Which is why I would never lie to you. I do think it will be okay. When we went to get Theo out, we walked straight into her lair with no idea what we were dealing with. This time, we’re laying a trap for her. She will be alone or have very few people with her, and this time, _we_ have the advantage.”

Daphne nodded, “Okay. Are we safe here while you take her down?”

“If we catch her, yes,” Harry answered, “But if she gets away, you are the first person she will come after. She knows where all the Potter properties are, and she knows about all of the ministry safehouses. But the one thing she doesn’t realise is that there are other places I can send you to keep you safe.”

“Hogwarts?” Daphne asked with a smile.

Harry nodded and kissed her lightly, “Take the kids and explain to Minerva. You know she will understand. You can spend the day with Hagrid and Olympe.”

“Okay,” Daphne said simply.

“It will all be okay,” Harry assured her, kissing her once more for luck and smiling at her as warmly as he could.

Daphne looked less convinced, and Harry thought he might get away without seeing Neville, but he was wrong, he found him in the grounds.

“So the hunt begins?” Neville asked.

“Something like that,” Harry replied, sitting down next to Neville on a bench, “But as I’ve just told your wife and mine, I’ll be fine.”

“I know you will be,” Neville said confidently, “I’ll come in to wish you luck later.”

“Can you do that?” Harry asked in surprise.

“One month on, I’ve got the all-clear to apparate. It’s the least-jostling form of transport, but it will be a lot longer until I’m cleared to use the floo, and I think portkeys will jar my back for the rest of my life,” Neville explained.

“Well, at least you’re not going to be housebound anymore,” Harry said. He smiled at Neville and pushed himself to his feet, “See you later mate.”

“Yeah, see you later.”

* * *

Draco had a similar morning; only he was ambushed by everyone at the same time. When he walked into the kitchen, they were already all awake. Sadie and Hermione were sitting at the kitchen table, and Theo was trying not to fall asleep into a cup of coffee at the breakfast bar. Ella was playing in the corner of the kitchen with a large dolls house that Theo had made her. Almina had the same one, and it was a huge, excellent replica of Hogwarts Castle.

“Morning,” Draco said carefully.

“Morning,” Theo scoffed, “That’s what you say before you go into work for a life-threatening ambush?”

“Okay, A. You do not get to be pissy with me. You were a dick to me all month,” Draco remarked, “And B. It is not life-threatening. We are the hunters this time, we’ve laid our bait, she’s going to bite like a stupid little fish, and we’re going to catch her. Jason and Terry will have the perimeter, Ben and Owen are there if things get bad and more to the point, Harry will have my back. I will be fine.”

Hermione smiled, “Logically, I think we all know that.”

“But it doesn’t stop us worrying,” Sadie added.

“I know that,” Draco said honestly, “But I’m going to take Harry’s advice and have a bit more faith that everything will be just fine.”

Theo rolled his eyes, “Harry this, Harry that.”

“Don’t get jealous,” Sadie said, shooting him an amused look, “Have you snogged Harry recently, Draco?”

Draco rolled his eyes, “The thought disgusts me.”

“See? You’ve got nothing to worry about Theo,” Hermione chimed in.

“If you two are just going to insult me, I’m going to work,” Draco said, shooting the two women an amused smile.

“Good luck,” Hermione said, wrapping her arms around Draco’s neck and kissing him. When she drew back, Sadie hugged Draco and wished him good luck.

Draco turned to Theo, “Are you going to stop being bitter?”

Theo sighed and pulled Draco into a hug, “I’ll come in to wish you all good luck later, but while it’s just us…don’t do anything stupid. Be Draco Malfoy today, don’t be Draco Black, he’s too damn noble for his own good.”

Draco chuckled and pulled back from the hug, “You’re getting good with these backhanded compliments, mate.”

“You know I’m right though,” Theo said, meeting Draco’s eye, “Don’t be a Gryffindor today.”

“I promise, I won’t be,” Draco said, patting Theo on the shoulder, “I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

He kissed Ella on the cheek and said goodbye then he said a general goodbye to the rest of the occupants of the house and headed for work.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	27. In the Final Hour, I'll Be a Confident Coward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:
> 
> Heroes by All Time Low.

The first thing Harry needed to do before he briefed the team was get the okay from John.

“We’re going to ambush her tonight,” Harry told his friend.

John looked more like the Head Auror than ever as he leant back in his chair and surveyed Harry carefully, “Okay. How?”

“She threatened the Greengrass family, and we decided to use that against her,” Harry explained, “We’ve got her apprentice, she’s getting nervous, so she made the mistake of going after my wife. She clearly doesn’t know what I would do to protect her.”

John nodded, “How are you going to ambush her?”

“We’re laying a trap at Greengrass House. Cygnus and Narcissa are in France, so Ben and Owen are going to polyjuice into them. Draco and I will lay in wait inside, and Jason and Terry will patrol the perimeter. When she comes in, we will ambush and subdue her.”

“I’ll come with you,” John said.

“With all due respect John, no,” Harry said simply, “The last time the Head Auror and the Assistant Head Auror worked a job together, we lost Jack. We can’t afford to lose you; it would fracture the entire department, and not least, your family.”

John raised an eyebrow at him, “Are you telling me what to do?”

“You know that I’m right, Shep,” Harry said, looking at his boss, “You’re the big man now. You don’t get to do much fieldwork.”

John sighed, “I hate this job already.”

“I knew you would,” Harry admitted.

“Take back up,” John said, “You’re going to need more than six people.”

Harry shook his head, “No, the fewer people, the better. This is an ambush; we don’t want her to cotton on.”

John surveyed Harry for a long moment, “I don’t like it,” he eventually said.

“You don’t have to like it,” Harry said bluntly, “You just need to give it the green light.”

John leant forward in his chair, “You’re confident that you can catch her without losing anyone?”

“I am,” Harry answered.

“And you’re confident you can bring her in alive?” John asked.

“That, I’m less sure about,” Harry confessed.

“The Minister for Magic wants her alive,” John reminded Harry.

“No offence Shep but I don’t give a fuck what the Minister for Magic wants. If it’s her or one of my guys, I’ll do whatever it takes,” Harry said honestly.

“Fine,” John said, “But on your head be it.”

Harry nodded, “So are we good?”

“We’re good,” John said simply.

Harry nodded once more, “Thanks, Shep. We’ll get her, I’m sure of it.”

“I hope you’re right,” John admitted.

* * *

“Right everyone, today is the day!” Harry said the moment the homicide bullpens door had swung shut behind him.

He took the map of Greengrass House off the board and enlarged it, “Everywhere that is protected by wards, has a weak spot. That’s how Lucia is getting in; she’s scanning the wards for the weak spot which is no easy feat as you will all know. Most of us still couldn’t master it when we graduated from the training centre, but Lucia seems to find it easy. Every time you change the wards, that weak spot moves which should make it more difficult to locate, but she got into the Abbotts house even after the wards had been changed.”

The team all watched Harry intently.

“However, as the person who put the wards up on Greengrass House for the purpose of this ambush, I know that the weak spot in the wards is right here,” Harry said, pointing at the porch. “She will break through the wards right by the front door so Jason and Terry, you are going to be stationed here and here,” he pointed to a spot in front of the drawing-room window and a spot in front of the study window, “Under disillusionment charms of course.”

Jason and Terry both nodded.

“Ben and Owen, you guys are going to be here,” Harry said, pointing to the kitchen, “In polyjuice as Narcissa and Cygnus.”

Ben and Owen both nodded.

“And Draco and I are going to be laying in wait in here,” Harry said, pointing to the drawing-room, “She will not come alone, I suspect she will have at least two people with her. Jason, Terry, your job is to pick them off when we start duelling her. Ben, Owen, you guys are going to sit put unless we call for back-up. This is a very high-risk, dangerous situation and realistically, Juniors in their first year shouldn’t even be on the field on something like this, so you _need_ to do what I say. No heroics.”

“Yes, sir,” Ben said.

Owen nodded, “Yes, sir,” he agreed.

“Draco and I will ambush her here,” Harry continued, pointing to the large entrance hall which had doors off to the drawing-room, kitchen, library and study, “It is not going to be an easy duel, Draco. We could be doing side-by-side duelling or back-to-back duelling which is why we’re going to head to the duelling room for a bit of practice.”

Draco nodded, “I completely agree with that.”

“Everyone else, keep an eye on the maps,” Harry ordered.

* * *

The nerves began to kick in that night while they waited in the empty Auror department to launch their ambush. Lucia never struck before midnight, so they wanted to be situated at Greengrass House before 11 pm, just to be on the safe side.

While they were waiting around, a knock sounded at the door.

Harry opened it and smiled, “Hey, Nev.”

Neville stepped in and waved, “Hey guys, I brought you all coffee. I thought espressos might be a good idea, give you all a boost of alertness before the big ambush.”

They all thanked him and reached for the coffee gratefully. Harry took a sip of his own and sighed, “Thanks, Nev.”

Neville smiled, “It’s about all that I _can_ do with this bad back of mine. I’ll not be duelling for a long time.”

“You planning on coming back, Neville?” Jason asked curiously.

Neville shook his head, “Nah. If you catch her tonight, I’ll hand my notice into Shep tomorrow.”

Harry had been expecting that, just as Draco had known that Theo wouldn’t come back.

“Oh man, seriously?” Jason asked, “You’re a brilliant Auror.”

“I _was_ a brilliant Auror,” Neville corrected him, “Now I don’t trust my reflexes, and I don’t think I ever will again. I think it’s time for a change.”

“Hang up the shiny red robes for muddy ones and move into a greenhouse?” Harry guessed.

Neville grinned, “Yep, Auror Longbottom is out, Professor Longbottom is in.”

Harry and Draco both chuckled at that. Then another knock sounded at the door. This time Draco opened it, and he chuckled when he saw Theo, “Looks like you and Neville had the same idea.”

Theo walked in with a guitar over his shoulder, “You here to wish them luck too, Nev?”

Neville smiled widely, “Yeah, something like that.”

“What’s with the guitar?” Harry asked Theo.

“Oh, it’s for you,” Theo said, handing the guitar to Harry.

Harry took it and looked at Theo incredulously, “Okay?”

“I had a thought last night, while I couldn’t sleep,” Theo said, sitting down on the edge of Draco’s desk, “I listen to music when I wake up from a nightmare, it calms me down. So I thought maybe you should play Jack’s song, I thought it might calm everyone down.”

Harry frowned.

“I think it’s what he would have wanted,” Theo admitted, “I don’t think he would want people to listen to his favourite song and feel sad because they remember his funeral. I think he would want it to be something that instilled hope in people. If you sing it tonight and you all survive that ambush, it will become a good luck charm.”

Harry smiled slightly, “That’s incredibly insightful and thoughtful of you, Theo.”

Theo grinned, “What can I say? I’m a sensitive guy.”

Draco snorted at that.

“You, shut up,” Theo said, pointing at his best friend.

“Alright,” Harry chuckled, “I’ll sing the song, “Anyone who knows the words, join in.”

He began to strum on the guitar and instantly, a wave of calm washed over him. It was the strangest feeling in the world, and it made Harry wonder if Theo had done something to the guitar.

“ _Almost heaven, West Virginia. Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River.”_

Draco joined in first, _“Life is old there, older than the trees.”_

_“Younger than the mountains, growing like a breeze,”_ Neville joined in.

Theo smiled sadly and sang along too, _“Country roads, take me home. To the place, I belong. West Virginia, Mountain Mama, take me home, country roads.”_

Jason and Terry joined in for the next verse, but Ben and Owen looked confused, _“All my memories gather round her. Miner’s lady, stranger to blue water. Dark and dusty, painted on the sky. Misty taste of moonshine, teardrop in my eye.”_

For the chorus, Ben and Owen joined in, and their voices filled the small bullpen, _“Country roads, take me home. To the place, I belong. West Virginia, mountain mama. Take me home, country roads.”_

Harry sang the final verse alone, _“I hear her voice in the morning hour she calls me. Radio reminds me of my home far away. Driving down the road I get the feeling that I should’ve been home yesterday, yesterday…”_

When they all sang the chorus for the final time, another voice joined the choir…

_“Country roads, take me home. To the place, I belong. West Virginia, mountain mama. Take me home, country roads.”_

John smiled from the doorway, “He’d have been very proud.”

Harry cleared his throat and nodded, “All Theo’s idea, sir.”

“Well, he always was the smart one out of the four of you,” John said with a slight smile, “You guys had better be heading now, mind you.”

Harry nodded and looked at Neville and Theo, “Since you two can’t be in the field anymore, how do you feel about watching the maps while we try and catch her?”

“Yeah, I reckon we can do that,” Neville agreed.

Theo nodded, “Yep. Good luck.”

“Not that you’ll need it,” Neville said.

Harry and Draco led the rest of the Homicide team out of the office. Once they were gone, Theo sighed and said, “I hope they’ll be alright.”

“They will be,” Neville said with a knowing smile.

“What did you do?” John asked, surveying the two out of action Aurors.

Theo shrugged, “Put a calming charm on the guitar so that it would clear their minds when a song was played on it.”

“Neville?” John said, looking at the Gryffindor.

“I may have slipped Felix Felicis into their coffee,” Neville admitted.

“Okay, _that’s_ illegal,” John pointed out.

“Do you care if it means they arrest her and all live?”

“As Head Auror, yes, I care about laws being broken,” John retorted, “But as their friend, no I don’t care.”

“It isn’t fool-proof anyway,” Neville pointed out, “As my wife pointed it when she caught me nicking some this morning.”

Theo snorted, “How much of a bollocking did you get?”

“When I told her it was to give Harry a fighting chance against Lucia, she stopped hitting me with her slipper,” Neville admitted with a sheepish grin.

Theo barked out a laugh, and even John smiled.

“It just makes the drinker more perceptible to change,” Neville continued, “There are infinite possibilities every time someone makes a choice and Felix Felicis just prods them in the direction of the best one.”

“You know a lot about it,” John pointed out.

“Harry did something similar once,” Neville admitted, “We were in school when the Battle of the Lightning Struck tower happened. Harry gave a drop of the potion to Hermione, Ron and Ginny, and they all came out unscathed.”

“Well, that would be a result,” John said, sitting down with the two men, “All six of my men unscathed and a vicious murderers soul fed to the dementors.”

“If anyone can do it, it’s Harry and Draco,” Theo admitted.

Neville nodded his agreement, and they all looked over at the map of Greengrass House anxiously as the team got into position.

* * *

Harry couldn’t imagine how horrible the wait was for the people watching the maps. While he and Draco were just waiting, they were watching the dots and the names and praying that none of them disappeared.

The waiting made them tired, mainly because there was a _lot_ of it. The cuckoo clock in the hall had just announced that it was 1 pm when they heard the tell-tale crackling that signified a disruption in the wards.

The front door was forced open, and high heeled boots clicked into the entrance hall. On either side of the drawing-room door, Harry and Draco met each other’s eye and nodded. They both stepped out with their wands drawn, at the same time that Jason and Terry walked through the front door.

Lucia was visibly stunned which gave them a split-second over her.

_“Stupefy!”_

_“Protego!”_

_“Depulso!”_

Spells were thrown from every direction, but everyone got a shield charm up fast enough to avoid being hit.

As Harry had planned, Terry and Jason launched into one-on-one duels with the two henchmen that Lucia had brought with her which left himself and Draco free to duel Lucia.

“You were stupid enough to ambush me?” Lucia asked as she slashed her wand through the air, creating clones of herself as she had in the church, “Do you think I came here unprepared? I have men stationed at Potter Manor and Longbottom House.”

Harry smirked and defended against a stunning charm that one of her clones had just cast at him, “Well, I know that’s a bluff because surely you know me better than that by now? You must have character-profiled me like you did with the rest of your enemies.”

Lucia narrowed her eyes at him.

“So you ought to know that if you hurt Daphne, I won’t have any need for a wand. I’ll rip you apart with my bare hands,” Harry said darkly.

Lucia laughed and slashed her wand through the air once more. All of her clones moved in on him and Draco at once. They both cast “ _Protego_!” which encircled them in a protective bubble but the clones could reach through the bubble, even if spells couldn’t penetrate it. While they were distracted, Lucia grabbed Harry’s wand from his hand.

He spun around, and she smirked, “Want to make true on that threat?”

Harry growled, and Draco blasted all of the clones back with “ _Reducto_!”

He was just about to try and get Harry’s wand back when Lucia cast fiendfyre at him. He threw himself out of the way, but the fiery snake that had been unleashed followed him through the room. Lucia laughed cruelly at her half-brother’s expense, and Harry said, “Give me your wand!”

Draco threw his wand to Harry, who caught it and managed to bring the fiendfyre under control a little. The snake vanished in a burst of ash, but the fire continued to consume the building, and in the little flames were tiny dancing snakes.

While Harry did this, Draco grabbed Harry’s wand from Lucia. They threw the wands across the room and caught them deftly; sometimes, it paid to be a seeker.

Harry smirked as he and Draco advanced on Lucia together. She didn’t look so smug anymore; in fact, she looked visibly scared. She had rather stupidly taken out her clones with her own fiendfyre.

“Good,” Harry said, “You should be scared! You tried to kill our best friends. That would be enough to make anyone dangerous. God knows what it will do to us.”

The duel that followed was fierce. All of Lucia’s curses were lethal, and more than half of them were unshieldable, which meant that there was a lot of ducking, jumping, throwing themselves to the floor and rolling. Harry knew they’d be black and blue by the end of it.

The moment of truth came when the tiny snakes in the flames of the fiendfyre came together to make one large snake again. At this point, Harry yelled, “Draco, you need to finish her! You’re better in one-on-one combat than me! – _Confringo_!”

“What? But you killed Voldemort!” Draco said incredulously, “ _Everte_ _statum_!”

The spell hit Lucia and forced her back into the drawing-room.

“You have her in an enclosed space, go!” Harry yelled.

Draco dashed into the room, shutting the door with magic as he did. Harry hated not knowing what was happening in there. Not having Draco’s back went against everything he stood for as an Auror, but if he didn’t bring the fiendfyre under control, they would both die.

Harry cast the only spell he knew that could control fiendfyre, but it took a lot of effort. He raised his wand high above his head then slashed it down as hard as he could. The giant fiery snake was slammed into the ground, and it disintegrated into ash once more.

Next, Harry roared the counter-curse and moved his wand in circles. The flames gradually drew back in, to that centre point until eventually, they vanished altogether. With his wand still in his hand, Harry dashed towards the drawing-room, “Terry, Jason, come on!”

The two Aurors were stationed at the door, having defeated Lucia’s henchmen and, presumably as there were no bodies, portkeyed them into a holding cell at the ministry. Harry blasted open the drawing-room door and walked in with Terry and Jason in tow. They came in just in time to see Draco do the coolest thing that Harry had ever seen him do.

Some spells just seemed to be someone’s ‘signature’. For Harry, it was Expelliarmus and Harry always associated Dumbledore with fiery spells.

Draco had just conjured up the fire whip that Dumbledore had used to defend against the inferi in the cave where Slytherins Locket had been hidden. However, it wasn’t a circle of fire; it was more like an actual lasso, which was aflame.

They watched as he aimed the lasso at her feet, but she jumped to avoid it and aimed her wand over Draco’s shoulder, “ _Avada_ -”

Before she could get any further, Draco brought the whip down over her wrist, slicing off her hand in one fluid movement. She screamed in pain, and Harry acted quickly, “ _Stupefy_!”

Jason and Terry had the same idea. All three stunners hit her, and she fell to the ground. Draco ended the spell as the rest of the team ran forward. Harry cauterised the wound, so she didn’t bleed out, and Jason bound her body tightly with “ _Incarcerous_!”

“Are you okay?” Harry asked Draco.

Draco nodded; he was pale and a little unsteady on his feet. Terry gripped his shoulder and pushed him back into an armchair.

“That spell is just very draining,” Draco admitted.

“Of course it is, it’s insanely difficult magic to master,” Harry said proudly, “I honestly never thought you were powerful enough to do it Draco, I’m seriously impressed.”

Draco just rolled his eyes, “That’s you all over though, isn’t it Harry? Constantly underestimating me.”

“He’s making jokes, he’ll live,” Harry said, shooting Terry an amused smile.

“And she’s going to get her soul sucked out by a dementor,” Jason said, glaring at the unconscious woman.

“I need to drain her magical core so she can’t wake up and try attacking us wandlessly. Then we need to get her into a holding cell at the ministry,” Harry said.

The others fell silent so that Harry could concentrate on draining her magical core. Once he was done, he looked up and said, “Terry, tell Ben and Owen that it’s over and get Draco back to the Auror department. Sit him down with a stiff drink, Godric knows he deserves it. Jason, you and I are going to get this bitch locked up.”

Everyone nodded and began to act on their orders. Jason and Harry apparated to the detention area apparition point. In this corridor, there was a row of temporary detention cells. Each one was lined with lead and was therefore magic-proof, like the brig in the Auror training centre was. They threw Lucia into one and locked the door with four different spells, then warded it just to be on the safe side.

“We need an Auror we trust stationed outside this door,” Harry said, “We don’t know if she has any other moles in the DMLE and anyone in the department can access these cells.”

“Who do you have in mind?” Jason asked.

“Ophelia or Blanche. Send Patronuses out, but stay by this door until someone comes to relieve you,” Harry said.

“Yes, sir.”

Harry walked down the corridor, past the detention cells and nodded to the MLE guard, “We’ve just brought in Lucia Cross.”

He received congratulations for this then he dashed along the corridor, into the Auror department. When he stepped into the Homicide bullpen, the others were already there.

Neville grinned and patted him on the shoulder, “Didn’t I tell you it would be fine?”

John rose to his feet, “Is she secure?”

“She’s in a detention cell. Jason is guarding the door, but I’ve asked him to get Blanche or Ophelia in so he can go home.”

“You all need to go home,” John said, “That was a bloody brilliant success, but you all look exhausted. Not least you Draco.”

“He conjured a fire whip and sliced off her casting hand,” Harry said, shaking his head, “He was fucking brilliant, Shep.”

Draco smiled weakly.

John patted Draco on the back, “Well done, Draco.”

Theo pulled his best friend to his feet, “But Shep is right. You need to go home.”

“You’ll get him there, I’m sure,” Harry said. He reached down and shook Draco’s hand, “And I’m bloody proud to have you as my Auror partner, mate.”

Draco smiled and said, “You had my back in there too. Thanks, Harry.”

“Anytime,” Harry returned.

“The trial is being expedited. She will be tried before the Wizengamot tomorrow, so make sure you all answer the call,” John said.

Draco and Theo both nodded.

“Come on,” Theo murmured, “Let’s go home.”

The two men left together, and Harry fought back a yawn, “I’ll stay until someone comes to relieve Jason. Terry, go home. You were great tonight and well done for staying put like you were told to, kids.”

Terry, Ben and Owen all nodded and left the office.

“Go home,” John said, looking specifically at Harry.

“I need to wait,” Harry yawned.

“No, you don’t,” Neville said, gripping Harry’s shoulder, “Shep is here, and I reckon Shep will stay here all night to make sure nobody tries to break Lucia out. Am I right?”

John smiled slightly, “You’re not wrong.”

“See?” Neville said, “You need to go home and sleep. You need to eat some breakfast tomorrow and re-fuel. It’s over Harry.”

“It won’t be over until the dementors have sucked her soul out,” Harry said darkly.

“Which they will do tomorrow,” Neville assured his best friend, “Come on, let’s go home.”

Harry sighed and got to his feet, “Shep, are you-”

“I’ll be fine, _go home_ ,” John instructed, “I’ll see you tomorrow for the trial.”

Harry nodded and made to leave with Neville.

“And Harry?”

Harry turned to look at his boss, “Well done. You were a brilliant leader tonight,”

Harry smiled, “Maybe I was, but I don’t deserve the recognition for any of this. Draco does.”

“And I’ll make sure he gets it,” John promised.

* * *

The following morning, the trial was on everyone’s minds.

“You okay, babe?” Daphne asked Harry quietly.

Harry looked up from his coffee, “Yeah, I just…” he sighed and looked back down.

Neville and Lilly were still here too. Harry and Neville had stayed at the Manor the previous night having sent a Patronus to Hogwarts. Daphne and the kids had come back early in the morning, and Lilly had come through the vanishing cabinet doorway not long after them.

“What is it, Harry?”

“This whole thing with Lucia, it has me thinking,” Harry said quietly, “Are we the bad guys? The ones who run the wizarding world? Was Lucia right?”

Daphne shook her head and took his hand, “No, she was not right.”

Lilly nodded her agreement, “Yes, it’s old-fashioned that the heads of the old families run the wizarding world. Perhaps it wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world to introduce some elected seats to even it out. But the way Lucia chose to go about it, that made her the bad guy.”

Neville smiled sympathetically at Harry, “The world isn’t split into heroes and villains, Harry. We’re all somewhere in-between. Sometimes we do bad things for a good reason. Lucia just took that too literally and too far.”

Harry smiled weakly at Neville, “You sounded like Sirius just then.”

“He’s right though,” Daphne said softly, “You are not a bad person, far from it. You are a very good person who bad things have happened to.”

Harry laughed tearfully, “What is it with everyone quoting Sirius today?”

“Maybe they’re all quoting him because he’s right,” Lilly said pointedly, “You _are_ a good person, and it’s a miracle that you are. You were neglected and abused, how you even became a functional adult amazes me.”

“I’m still not convinced he is one,” Neville joked.

Harry laughed and wiped his eyes hastily, “Thanks, guys. Sorry for the confidence dip. It’s just been a tough couple of months.”

“Yeah,” Daphne agreed, looking around the table, “It has been, but it’s going to look up now. Lucia will get the Dementors kiss, and she’s not going to be our problem anymore. Harry, you get to be the Dad that Thea deserves. Neville _gets_ to _be_ a Dad, and his back is healing well. Draco and Theo are back together. Sadie and Theo are going to be stronger than ever coming out of this.”

“What about me?” Lilly joked, “Why don’t I get a mention?”

“Oh you come out worse,” Daphne joked, grinning at her best friend, “You’re a tiny little 5-foot pocket rocket, and you’ve got to give birth to two Neville Longbottom sized babies.”

Harry and Neville burst out laughing at this, while Lilly glared at Daphne, “Putain de salope!”

“Oh shit, they’re swearing at each other in French again,” Harry sniggered.

Neville just shook his head in amusement as he smiled at the two women.

* * *

Draco had a bit of a post-Lucia meltdown that morning too. He didn’t cry or get angry; he just went for a shower and got too lost in his thoughts while the water poured over his body. It was kind of his way of dealing with things, and it had been since the war.

When the bathroom door was pushed open, he assumed it was Hermione. He rested his forehead against the cold shower wall and said, “I’m fine.”

“Really? Cause the last time you tried to drown yourself in a shower was when you found out Pansy was pregnant.”

Draco rolled his eyes.

Despite there being a shower curtain in-between him and Theo, the other man said, “Don’t roll your eyes at me.”

“How did you know I had rolled my eyes?” Draco asked in disbelief.

“I could literally _feel_ you rolling your eyes, Draco,” Theo snorted, “What’s going on?”

Draco sighed and turned the shower off, “I should just feel happy. I should be thrilled that we all got out of that in one piece but all I keep coming back to, is could I have done it differently?”

Theo sighed, “You didn’t kill her Draco. I think Harry would have done if he had been in your position.”

“You know yourself though Theo,” Draco said, wrapping a towel around himself and pulling the shower curtain back, “You can do worse things to a person than kill them.”

“The difference is, she deserves it,” Theo said firmly.

Draco walked past him into his and Hermione’s bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed, “Does she? Or was she just misguided?”

“Misguided? She murdered _ten_ people!” Theo exclaimed, “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I had a moment, back at Greengrass House,” Draco said quietly, looking down at his hands, “I spent all this time chasing her, not really thinking about who she was but then after I had sliced her hand off there was this split-second before the others stunned her. And I looked into her eyes and they were _just_ like mine back when I was in sixth year. That was when it hit me; I had just cut my sister's hand off.”

“ _Half_ -sister,” Theo said, sitting down next to him.

Draco sighed, “And now I can’t stop thinking, what if we had been able to help her? What if we had known her sooner? Could we have stopped her from becoming this monster?”

“No,” Theo said honestly, “I mean, there’s not any point in dealing in what if’s anyway because we _can’t_ go back in time and change anything. But, even if we could….the people we are now could probably help her but the people we were back then couldn’t. By the time we found out about her, she was too far gone.”

“Don’t you feel anything?” Draco asked, looking into Theo’s eyes. The dark-haired man saw the torment there, “She was your half-sister too. I mean, Lacey is only your half-sister, and you love her.”

“I love Lacey because I grew up with her,” Theo said honestly, “I mean yes, I was at Hogwarts when she was born, but I spent every summer and Christmas with that little squirt. All I know about Lucia is that she is sick and manipulative. The reason I nearly walked out on you, that was because of how much _she_ fucked with my head, and now she’s fucking with your head.”

Draco frowned.

“She is a bad person, Draco,” Theo said, “A manipulative, foul, horrible person. She deserves whatever the Wizengamot decide to do to her.”

Draco nodded, but he still looked torn.

“You saved a lot of innocent families last night,” Theo said, gripping his best friends hand, “But the one that I really care about is ours. I know you feel conflicted about what you did and I know you, Draco, I know that won’t just go away.”

Draco looked up and caught his eye.

Theo smiled slightly, “But you saved our family from a terrible fate. You’re the reason that I finally have a little bit of closure, that I feel like I can start getting better now. That’s all on you, so thank you.”

Draco cleared his throat and pulled Theo in for a hug, “Thank you,” he murmured, “You’re right, thank you.”

Theo patted him on the back, “I know I am, now get dressed. I came up here to tell you that the Patronus has been sent out. The trial is in…” he looked at the clock “Half an hour.”

“Okay,” Draco said, opening up his wardrobe and steeling himself for the day ahead.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	28. It Ends Tonight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title comes from the song:  
> It Ends Tonight by All-American Rejects.

There were a lot of empty seats in the courtroom where the trial was being held. Lucia had picked off several Wizengamot members in her month-long rampage against the hierarchy. She was bound to a steel chair and silenced, but she didn’t look worried or scared. She was smirking up at the lords as they watched her warily from their balcony.

The trial was being conducted by Kingsley, which meant there was a chance she would get life in Azkaban over the Dementor’s kiss because Kingsley was very liberal.

“All rise for the trial of Lucia Cross!”

They all rose to their feet, Neville with the aid of his cane.

“Miss Cross is charged with the murder of Head Auror, Jack Sumner, the Honourable Graham Montague, Joseph Fawley, the Honourable Stuart Fawley, Annabella Fawley, the Honourable Kevin Brown, Baron Julian Crouch, The Honourable Matthias Jones, Earl Oberon Parkinson and Lady Hyacinth Parkinson,” Kingsley began.

He paused for breath, “In addition, she is charged with ‘Intent to Murder’ concerning Earl Howard Abbott, Lady Hannah MacDougall, Laird Hamish MacDougall, Nina Frost, Earl Cygnus Greengrass and Lady Narcissa Greengrass.”

Lucia’s smirk did not waver.

“Before we take this to a vote, the accused may present her defence,” Kingsley said, nodding to one of the six guards that had encircled Lucia.

The guard took the silencing charm off, and the first thing that Lucia did was laugh, “Now, isn’t this ironic? Actually, it’s not ironic at all. It just proves my point rather, don’t you think? Here I am, about to be punished by the Wizengamot, and it’s evident how you will vote. After all, as far as I am concerned, _you_ are the enemy.”

Neville frowned.

“The fact that the heads of the wizarding world decide my fate is incredibly wrong. What happened to an impartial jury? Muggles are scum, but at least they have a better jurisdiction system than us. You may as well convict me now. Why bother discussing it? We all know how you are going to vote.”

“Is that all you have to say for yourself?” Kingsley asked, “No last words?”

“You want last words?” Lucia asked, raising an eyebrow at the Minster for Magic, “Go to hell.”

Kingsley nodded at Lucia’s guards, and one of them put the silencing charm back up.

“Take her away while we deliberate,” Kingsley said smoothly.

The floor began to give way and the circular section with the chair that Lucia was bound to disappeared into the ground.

“She needs to get the Dementors kiss,” Howard said immediately, “I am sorry to be so blunt Minister, but she has been picking us off like flies.”

Kingsley bowed his head, “I am inclined to agree.”

“No.”

Everyone looked up, Harry included, “Neville!” he hissed.

Neville shook his head, “No, sir. With all due respect, you’re wrong. We can’t give her the Dementors kiss because if we do, she gets what she wants. We have no idea how many followers she has, or how many people in the wizarding world believe that it _is_ unfair that the heads of the old families run the world. Looking at it logically, there must be a hell of a lot of people who feel that way. Look at the people who live in poverty in the Closes; I bet they feel like the rich don’t do enough to help them. Look at the muggle-borns who spend seven years at school being bullied by purebloods for not being good enough.”

He had the rest of the courtroom listening intently now.

“The best way I can describe it is by describing a Hydra. You think it’s just a big snake, so you cut off the head, but in doing so, three more grow back. If we give Lucia the Dementors kiss and make her a martyr, we have no idea what kind of rebellion against the state that could spark.”

Theo shook his head, “I disagree. The way that we have always dealt with murderers, with people who kill their _own_ kind, is to give them the Dementors kiss.”

“And has anyone thought that might be the problem?” Neville asked calmly, “That perhaps the old ways are just that, _old_ and out of date. We can’t just do what our forebearers would have done. We need to grow with the times and adapt. We need to make our own decisions based on the circumstances of the here and now.”

“With all due respect, adapting with the times is one thing but letting a murderer get away with her actions is another,” Theo argued.

“She won’t get away with it,” Neville said simply, “She will be punished. I think solitary confinement in Azkaban as a muggle would be fitting revenge. It doesn’t take an expert character profiler to work out what Lucia’s worst nightmare is after all.”

Howard threw his hat into the ring, “You make a fair point, but we are all aware that Azkaban is no longer the impenetrable fortress that it once was. Many inmates escaped in the war against Voldemort, including the Death Eater who tortured _your_ parents.”

“Yes, but Lucia is _not_ Voldemort,” Neville said.

“And even if she were, the circumstances are different,” Harry cut in, “Voldemort broke his people out of prison. We have no idea if his followers would have been capable of doing the same thing for him. We are also sure that Lucia is the leader; she is the one with powerful magic. If we had captured Seamus, yes, I would agree with you. I would worry that Lucia could break him out.”

Draco nodded, “As one of the six Aurors who hunted Lucia over this past month, I will agree with Harry there. Her followers are not that smart. She preys on the weak, those who have been bullied or put down. She doesn’t amass powerful witches and wizards as Voldemort did.”

“The weak can be more powerful than you know when they come together,” Howard said darkly, “Two powerful wizards do not stand a chance against one hundred weak ones.”

“And if you had not taken a month to catch her then this Wizengamot would not be short six of the old families today!” Ezekiel Smith said.

Harry shook his head in disbelief and walked to the front of the balcony, “You! You need to take a long hard look at your family, Ezekiel. If you actually bothered to check in on your _other_ son every so often, rather than shun him, you would know just how hard we worked to arrest Lucia!”

Ezekiel scoffed, “I have one son, my heir – Zacharias.”

“No, you have two sons,” Harry said irritably, “You just pretend one of them doesn’t exist because he’s gay.”

There was an intake of breath around the courtroom.

“But whether you acknowledge him or not, Benedict is one hell of an Auror,” Harry said hotly, “And without his brains, we would not have caught Lucia _at all_. What’s more, if she hadn’t threatened my wife and changed tact, her next target was the Smith family. Despite _everything_ that you have done to that boy, he still protected you all from her wrath. So take a long hard look at yourself and maybe think about giving _him_ your Wizengamot seat, he’s certainly the only Smith _I_ have ever had respect for.”

Harry was pretty sure that Neville, Draco and Theo started it, but within seconds everyone in the courtroom was clapping. Ezekiel looked mortified, and Harry smirked proudly.

“Order!” Kingsley boomed.

The courtroom fell silent, and everyone looked at the Minister for Magic.

“Harry, while I might agree with your point, you may not speak to another member of the Wizengamot in that manner. If you do so again, I will be forced to remove you from this session,” Kingsley said firmly.

“My apologies, Kingsley. It will not happen again,” Harry promised. He glared at Ezekiel and moved back to his seat.

Kingsley cleared his throat, “I believe we ought to take this to a vote. If we decide against the Dementors kiss, Lucia Cross will have her magic permanently stripped from her. She will be placed in solitary confinement in the highest security sector of Azkaban, where she will live as a muggle until her death.”

Howard rose to his feet, “I shall begin the voting. As much as I agree with the sentiment brought to light by Neville, I vote in favour of the Dementors kiss.”

Draco stood up next, “Although I feel that she must be punished for what she has done, I do not feel that the Dementor’s kiss is ever an appropriate punishment. Therefore, I vote for solitary confinement.”

Susan nodded and got to her feet, “For the same reason, I vote for solitary confinement.”

Sorenson surprised them all when he stood up in the stalls. They were all expecting him to vote for the Dementors kiss. However, he said, “Harry and Neville are right; we do need to change. We _are_ old fashioned, and we _are_ stuck in the past, so I vote for solitary confinement.”

Michael Corner Senior got to his feet, “I feel that there is only one pertinent sentence for this woman, so I vote in favour of the Dementors kiss.”

Stefan Cornfoot nodded and rose to his feet, “I agree with Michael. I also vote in favour of the Dementors kiss.”

Cygnus Greengrass stood next, like Neville he had to grip a cane to steady himself, “Although I agree with my son-in-law and with Neville’s ideals, I cannot help but feel that what we require in this situation is a more permanent solution. Therefore, I vote in favour of the Dementors kiss.”

Neville pushed himself to his feet, _without_ his cane, and Harry smiled proudly.

“I believe I have said my piece where this subject is concerned,” Neville said simply, “I vote for solitary confinement.”

Hamish MacDougall stood up next, “I share my father-in-law’s beliefs, and for that reason, I vote in favour of the Dementors kiss.”

Ernie Macmillan stood, “Perhaps it is the Hufflepuff in me, but I do not believe it is ever acceptable to sentence someone to a Dementors kiss. I, therefore, vote in favour of solitary confinement.”

Theo stood next and said, “Despite my earlier misgivings, I can see the reasoning for deferring to a more humane option. Therefore I vote in favour of solitary confinement.”

Gareth Perks sighed, “I feel a little uncomfortable with the sentence, but I do feel that people like Lucia Cross should receive the punishment that they have inflicted on others. Therefore I vote in favour of the Dementors kiss.”

Harry got to his feet next. He took a step forward, “I will make my vote, but I will say it for what it is. I do _not_ vote in favour of the death sentence.”

There was a shocked silence.

“We hide behind it, and we call it the Dementors kiss,” Harry continued, “But that’s for the sake of our conscience. Yes, the Dementors kiss doesn’t stop someone’s heart; therefore, biologically speaking it does not kill them. But removing someone’s soul and leaving a lifeless shell? How can we say that it is not death?”

Nobody spoke.

“Therefore, I vote for solitary confinement,” Harry finished, taking his seat once more.

Clara stood up next and nodded, “I agree. I vote for solitary confinement.”

“As do I,” Slughorn said, smiling along the row, “Well said, Harry, my boy.”

Harry smiled weakly.

“I vote for solitary confinement,” Slughorn said, nodding at Kingsley.

“My vote is also for solitary confinement,” Kingsley confirmed.

“Well,” Ezekiel Smith said, “I for one am all for keeping the old traditions. They have served us well over the years and had Voldemort been given a Dementors kiss after the first war; we would all have been better off.”

Harry scoffed, and Kingsley sent him a warning look.

“Therefore, I vote for the Dementors kiss,” Ezekiel finished.

Percy shook his head and got to his feet, “I vote for solitary confinement.”

Oliver Wood nodded and stood at Percy’s side, “I also vote for solitary confinement.”

Finally, Belinda Zabini got to her feet and bowed her head, “My vote is for solitary confinement.”

Kingsley brought the hammer down, “The accused is convicted of mass murder and sentenced to solitary confinement, having had her magic permanently stripped from her.”

Neville got up again, with his cane this time, “Before you bring her back up here Kingsley, there is something that I need to say.”

Kingsley raised an eyebrow at him, “Speak.”

Neville walked to the front of the balcony and looked down, “I do not want to say that Lucia was right. Killing people to prove a point is _never_ right but the beliefs that led her down that path are beliefs that are held by a large percentage of our population. There are far more muggle-borns and half-bloods than purebloods these days. We are vastly outnumbered, a dying breed if you will. If we were animals, we would be accused of being in danger of going extinct.”

Neville took a breath, “And yes, we have gone a small way to change that. But it is minimal; there are twenty of us on the Wizengamot and there two half-bloods, Harry Potter and Stefan Cornfoot. Both half-bloods are still from very influential families. There are the Weasley’s, blood traitors but also war heroes and there are the Zabinis, some of whom are purebloods and some of whom are half-bloods. However, the other 16 people in this courtroom are purebloods. _How_ is that equality?”

There was silence.

“How is it fair that I stand here as a Lord and look down at my peers?” Neville continued, “What right do I have to sit on velvet seats while they sit on the benches? We are all witches and wizards, and we are all equal, but this courtroom does not reflect that.”

Harry smiled proudly as Neville’s speech took off, “How is it right that we make the laws when we are not elected? We were lucky enough to be born into this position, but some people would do a far better job of it than some of us. There are people like Hermione – sorry Draco, but I will call her Hermione Granger right now – who deserve a seat on the Wizengamot. She is incredibly smart, and her thinking is so modern, we _need_ that, but she does not get a look-in because she’s a muggle-born, a Black only through marriage not by blood. But why the hell should that make her lesser than us? She sure as hell isn’t.”

Draco smiled slightly at those words.

“And how is it right than Minerva McGonagall has never sat on the Wizengamot? She is a woman who we entrust to teach our children, who defended Hogwarts during the final battle. She is a bloody national treasure, but she doesn’t get a say in what happens in our world because she is a half-blood who is not from an influential family.”

Neville took a breath, “We need to change. We need to adapt because there will always be people like Lucia, and frankly, I’m not convinced that they are wrong in their beliefs. Lucia was just wrong in the way that she went about achieving her goals.”

Kingsley nodded, “This is something that we need to discuss, but we need to deal with the matter at hand.”

“This _is_ the matter at hand,” Neville argued, “Don’t you all see that? Lucia and this issue are irrevocably linked. We can’t make this decision in a week; we need to make it now. Whatever happens, the daily prophet will run a huge news story, and there is such a thing as bad press in this situation.”

Harry nodded his agreement.

“If we decide in a week that we want to change the Wizengamot, most people are going to see it as a cop-out, too little too late,” Neville explained, “If we decide _now_ that the Wizengamot needs to change, the daily prophet article will read far better. It will talk of how Lucia Cross was sentenced to life in Azkaban, but that her capture has prompted the Wizengamot to restructure. It will show the people who follow Lucia that we _do_ care about them and that we are not just the rich arseholes who run their world, because we aren’t.”

Kingsley smiled a little.

“We’re Aurors who worked in CPS,” Neville said, looking around the room, “We’re the people who have worked in the Closes and have seen poverty first-hand. We are the people who run and fund Lupin House, providing desperate girls from the Closes with a way out when they fall pregnant against their will or by accident. We are the Healers who don’t ask questions or give anyone priority based on their status. We are people, just like them, and we care about their lives and their opinions. But the only way we can show that to them is by giving them a chance, by giving _them_ a say. We need to give them a voice; we need to give them a vote.”

Harry rose to his feet and started to clap. Draco and Theo followed his lead, and before long, the whole room was giving him a hearty round of applause and saying, “Aye!”

Kingsley allowed himself a smile before calling the Wizengamot to order once more.

“Everyone be seated. Bring the accused back up!” Kingsley ordered.

Lucia’s seat was raised to the courtroom once more.

Kingsley stood and looked down at her, “Lucia Cross, the Wizengamot convict you of mass murder and sentence you to life-long solitary confinement in Azkaban prison. Your magic will be permanently stripped from you, and you will live out the rest of your days as a muggle.”

Lucia’s eyes widened; this was not what she had been expecting.

“Do you have any final words before your sentence is carried out?” Kingsley asked smoothly.

The silencing charm was lifted, and Lucia spat, “Sorry boys, but did you honestly think that I would go quietly?”

Before anyone could work out what that meant, she had done something. She made a strange face and bit down. She started to foam at the mouth and her body convulsed in the chair. The guards rushed forward, but in the space of a few seconds, she had gone from okay to unresponsive.

Clara ran down to the chair and did a diagnostic charm, “She’s dead. It was some sort of poison, a very fast-acting one.”

“Cyanide,” Percy said, “It’s a muggle poison. Spies used it to kill themselves when they were captured.”

The courtroom was stunned.

“She didn’t die a martyr like she wanted to,” Neville said with a frown, “She killed herself. If we spin that the right way, it will look like she did it as a final act of guilt.”

Kingsley nodded, “Take her to the morgue. I want a full post-mortem completed as soon as possible. We need to know how she managed to smuggle that poison in here.”

“It wouldn’t have shown up on any diagnostic charm, Kingsley,” Harry said, “No muggle poisons do. For the same reason that no muggle technology works in our world.”

Kingsley sighed, “This session will be reconvened next week. We shall then discuss the details of a change to the Wizengamot. In the meantime, I will give a statement to the press tomorrow stating that the Wizengamot is under review and that Lucia Cross committed suicide upon hearing her sentence.”

He brought the hammer down, and everyone got to their feet.

“Neville!” Kingsley called as he stepped onto the balcony, “A word, if you will?”

Neville drew back and grimaced, “Sorry, Kingsley. I know I shouldn’t have spoken out like that.”

“On the contrary, I am glad that you did,” Kingsley said honestly, “That was one fine speech you gave there. It is on days like today that I wish we broadcast our sessions on the WWN.”

Neville raised an eyebrow at him, “Really?”

“Indeed,” Kingsley said, “My sources inform me that you are no longer going to be an Auror?”

“Yes, I don’t think I will ever trust my reflexes the same way again,” Neville confessed.

“You have a fine political head on you; however,” Kingsley pointed out, “How would you feel about becoming my Junior Undersecretary?”

“I’m honoured,” Neville said honestly, “I really am, but it’s just not what I want to do. I’ve never liked politics, to be honest with you.”

“For someone who doesn’t like politics, you’re bloody good at it,” Kingsley admitted in amusement.

Neville chuckled, “I’ve already spoken to Minerva about starting as the new Herbology Professor next September, I’m afraid. But thank you, the offer is truly humbling.”

“In that case, how about Chief Warlock?”

Neville’s eyes widened, “You want me to take over the Wizengamot?”

“It shouldn’t be me,” Kingsley said, “I shouldn’t be Minister for Magic and Chief Warlock, and my career is coming to its natural end anyway. I’m old, but you are young and full of life. It was your idea to restructure the Wizengamot; you ought to be behind the helm for that change.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Neville said in disbelief.

“Yes will suffice,” Kingsley joked.

Neville laughed weakly, “Yeah, I mean yes. Of course.”

Kingsley smiled and patted him on the shoulder, “I’m going to need you by my side for that press conference tomorrow then. 9 am sharp.”

“Okay,” Neville said simply.

“Good. Get yourself home. It has been a long day for you,” Kingsley said.

Neville nodded and limped out of the courtroom. When he reached the corridor outside, he found Harry waiting for him.

“You waited?”

“Course I did,” Harry said as they set off together, “What did he want?”

“To offer me a job,” Neville admitted, “Well two jobs, I turned the first one down.”

“What did he offer you?” Harry asked in surprise.

“Junior Undersecretary,” Neville said with a shake of his head.

“And you turned it down?” Harry snorted, “Holy shit, Percy would take your head off for that. It’s his dream job!”

“But I’m not Percy,” Neville said with a small smile, “I don’t want fame or glory. I just want equality.”

“Hence the restructuring of the Wizengamot,” Harry said with a grin, “That’s going to be one hell of a change.”

“Tell me about it,” Neville smirked, “The second job he offered me was Chief Warlock, so I’m going to be the one overseeing that.”

“Holy shit! You must be the youngest ever Chief Warlock!” Harry said, stopping in front of the lifts to hug Neville. “I’m so proud of you, Nev.”

Neville chuckled and patted his back awkwardly with the hand that he wasn’t using to hold his cane.

Harry drew back, and they stepped into a lift together, “That’s bloody brilliant though, really.”

“Thanks,” Neville chuckled, “But honestly, I’m more excited about the job I’ll be starting next September. That’s _my_ dream job.”

Harry smiled warmly at him, “Honing the minds of kids?”

Neville nodded, “In the meantime, I’ll work on the restructuring of the Wizengamot, amongst other things. But in the long run, teaching is my passion. I want to teach hundreds of kids to learn about and respect magical plants in the hope that one of them uses that knowledge to cure lycanthropy or that one of them comes up with a cure for the cruciatus curse. You know?”

“You’re honestly the nicest person in the world, Neville,” Harry said softly. He looked across the small lift at the other man, “I don’t deserve you as a best friend.”

“Shut up you idiot,” Neville said, reaching across the small space to punch him in the shoulder. They both just grinned at each other as the lift reached the atrium.

* * *

“You turned _down_ an offer to be Kingsley’s Junior Undersecretary?!”

“You’re going to be the New Chief Warlock?!”

Neville grinned over at Harry, “You were totally right about their responses.”

Harry smirked, “I’m not a betting man, but if I was, I’d be rich.”

“Richer,” Daphne corrected, “But seriously, you turned down a job that significant?”

“I don’t like politics,” Neville shrugged.

“Which is why when he becomes Chief Warlock, he’s going to restructure the Wizengamot,” Harry said with a proud smile, “Also, after that epic speech he gave, I think I’m going to have to take some advice from Robin Hood.”

“You’re going to steal from the rich and give to the poor?” Lilly frowned.

“No, I _am_ rich,” Harry said pointedly, “So I’m going to give to the poor. Why are the Closes in such bad shape?”

“Because the Ministry lacks the money for the upkeep,” Daphne answered.

“And that’s because we don’t pay taxes,” Harry pointed out, “The Ministry was always ‘cash- rich’ but then the war drained all of its resources, and although we do the best we can to change things in the wider wizarding world, that fact hasn’t changed.”

“You’ll become the most hated man in wizarding history if you introduce taxes,” Lily pointed out with a raised eyebrow, “Chosen one or not.”

“I know, which is why I’m not going to do that. I will put forward that idea to a few different people as a talking point at the next Greengrass Industries dinner party though, and hopefully one of them will run with it,” Harry said, smirking at his wife.

“Oh, she has corrupted you,” Lilly chuckled.

“She’s corrupted both of you,” Neville said with an amused smile.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Daphne smirked.

“Daphne quit flirting with Neville. He’s already feeling big-headed after his epic speech about equality,” Harry joked, “I’ll show you the memory, he was bloody amazing. He was like a suffragette but male.”

Lilly snorted in amusement.

“Anyway, I’ll put up a large amount of money for the upkeep of the Closes. We’ll get a magical caretaker assigned to each building who can fix any issues and who can help keep the place clean. The CPS team do their best, but four of them can’t cover every single flat in the Closes,” Harry said.

“We should work with the CPS team to get more people from the Closes into work as well,” Neville said, “Particularly the Squibs.”

“We’ll do that,” Harry agreed with a nod.

“Do you two ever stop trying to change the world?” Daphne asked with a fond smile.

“Nope,” Harry and Neville chirped in unison.

“And let’s be honest,” Lilly said, also smiling, “We would never change them.”

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	29. A Reason to Start Over New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:  
> The Reason by Hoobastank.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that I didn't update in a few days! I was away over the weekend so here's the latest chapter a couple of days late!

“Why are you smiling at the Prophet?”

Harry looked up at Draco, “Oh, I’m just proud of Neville.”

Draco walked behind him and glanced down at the Prophet. He smiled too when he saw the headline.

**“MINISTER AND NEW CHIEF WARLOCK UNVEIL PLAN TO BRING THE WIZENGAMOT INTO THE 21 ST CENTURY.”**

“The press conference yesterday went well,” Harry said, “The article paints the Wizengamot in a good light. Rita Skeeter wrote a horrid article in her paper mind you, but nobody with sense buys it, so I’m more concerned about what the Prophet is saying.”

Draco nodded, “Did you know about that?” he asked, pointing to a section of the article.

_“Mr Longbottom has decided to relinquish the title of “Earl” that he holds. When one of our reporters asked him why he had done this. His response was;_

_“How can I preach equality? How can I say that I want everyone in the Wizengamot to sit on a level, that the Lords should not sit above everyone else? How on earth can I preach that when I don’t practice it? I can’t, not without being a hypocrite. I may be from a prominent wizarding family, but I am from humble beginnings like so many others. I grew up in Godric’s Hollow with my grandmother, not in a big Manor or castle. My wife is a Muggle-born who grew up on a council estate in London. That’s the muggle equivalent of the Closes. I’m not trying to sell the rags to riches story, but I do feel like my place on the Wizengamot was inherited, not deserved.”_

“No,” Harry said honestly, “But I’m not surprised. Neville didn’t have a title until he got given it back when the Wizengamot was reformed. It doesn’t matter to him.”

“Does it matter to you?” Draco asked Harry curiously.

“It’s useful to me,” Harry admitted, “In the political world I have to dip my toes in, with Lupin House and Greengrass Industries, it comes in handy. It gives me a bit of sway to get things done. Do you know what I mean?”

Draco nodded, “It doesn’t mean much to me anymore. When I was a Malfoy, it did. I had it drummed into me that our title made us important, that it made us mean something. But now….the only title that I care about is ‘Dad’.”

Harry smiled softly, “That’s sweet.”

“Do not _ever_ call me sweet again,” Draco said, shooting Harry a smile and pouring himself a cup of coffee.

Harry chuckled and looked up at the clock, “Is everyone else running late this morning?”

“Looks like it,” Draco yawned and sat down, stretching out as he did so.

Harry frowned, “What happened to your neck?”

Draco pulled his shirt collar up, hastily, “Theo.”

Harry raised an eyebrow, “Theo?”

“He and I are sleeping in the same bed at the moment,” Draco explained, “Until he gets the night terrors under control. The rules are; no wands in the bedroom and the door stays locked. When he wakes up in the middle of the night, I can defend myself wandlessly if I need to but Sadie can’t.”

“So he tries to hurt you?” Harry asked, “When he wakes up?”

“Sometimes,” Draco replied, “Sometimes I grab him and pin him down, and he snaps out of it. Other times if I’m in a deep sleep, I wake up with him trying to strangle me.”

Harry sighed, “Sorry, Draco, I didn’t realise it was that bad.”

Draco shrugged, “He’s going to start taking a sleeping draught to see if that helps and Hermione is brewing a potion which will suppress dreams and nightmares, so it’s just a temporary solution.”

“Is he getting therapy?” Harry asked curiously.

Draco nodded, “He will need to get therapy from the department before he comes back. You know the drill – return to work, full psych evaluation, etc.”

“What if he doesn’t come back?” Harry asked Draco.

“Then I drag his arse down to St. Mungo’s and force him to talk to somebody,” Draco said matter of factly.

Before they could discuss it any further, the door opened, and the rest of the team traipsed in. Jason and Terry walked in together, arguing about whether Costa or Starbucks made better coffee.

Owen walked in, and Ben stalked in after him. Draco and Harry raised an eyebrow at the blond boy as he threw himself into his chair irritably.

“What’s up with you this morning, Ben?” Harry asked.

“He fought with Dan,” Owen filled in.

“Ah, first fight?” Jason teased.

“The first one where he’s stormed out on me like an impulsive Gryffindor idiot,” Ben muttered. He kicked the metal bin under the desk for good measure.

Harry shot Draco an amused look.

“I didn’t have to deal with this kind of shit when I dated people in my own house,” Ben added.

“That’s the difference between a Gryffindor and a Slytherin though,” Draco said, placing a cup of coffee on the desk in front of Ben, “When I fight with Hermione, she gets satisfaction out of slamming the door as hard as she can behind her. But when I fight with Theo, he’ll walk out and leave the door wide open because he gets satisfaction out of knowing that I’ll have to get up and close it for him.”

Harry snorted in amusement, “That might just be your relationship dynamics. When I fight with Daphne, she ices me for a few days then we have amazing makeup sex, and when I fight with Neville, we duel, hug it out and get over it.”

“I think Draco’s relationship dynamics are healthier than yours, no offence mate,” Jason said.

Terry snorted, “But have you seen his wife? I’d fight with her all of the time if that’s how they make up.”

Harry grinned.

“They don’t need an argument to have sex, they have it all the time, everywhere,” Draco said dryly, “What would your kids be called if you had to name them after where they were conceived?”

“You literally did that. You named your kid Caspian because Theo bought you a villa by the Caspian Sea and you got Hermione drunk then forgot the charm.”

The others all laughed at Draco’s expense.

Draco rolled his eyes, “You didn’t answer the question.”

“Yeah well I’m hardly going to call my kids' Duelling Platform and Kitchen Table, am I?” Harry joked.

The team burst out laughing at this comment.

“I second Terry on this one to be fair mate,” Jason admitted, “I’ve seen your wife and I am jealous as hell.”

Owen nodded his agreement and Ben said, “I don’t even like women, and I’ll admit that she’s hot.”

Harry shot Draco a grin, “Regret dumping her yet, Draco?”

“Okay firstly, she dumped me and secondly, no because I’m in love with Hermione,” Draco retorted.

“Wait. You dated his wife?” Jason asked Draco.

Harry sat on his desk, “We have a complex relationship, don’t we Draco? Daphne, my wife, was Draco’s first love. Then she broke up with him and ended up with me.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “And you spent the war shagging my wife.”

“Exactly,” Harry said matter of factly, “Now! Murder. There was a murder last night.”

With a click of his fingers, the murder board spun around, “So it’s time to get to work.”

At that point, the door opened, and John stuck his head in, “Are you lot actually doing work?”

“Of course we are,” Harry said with mock offence, “This is the Homicide department, not CPS. We don’t sit around gossiping like a bunch of old witches.”

John raised an eyebrow at him, “That remains to be seen, but carry on. Remember that we have a departmental meeting at 4 pm that I need you for.”

“I’ll be there,” Harry assured the Head Auror.

John nodded and left, closing the bullpen door behind him.

“That was good timing,” Jason remarked.

“No, it wasn’t. You heard his shoes, didn’t you?” Draco asked Harry.

Harry grinned, “Yes, I did. But we do have a murder to solve so less hilarity, guys.”

* * *

When Neville stepped into John’s office, looking a little sheepish, John smiled knowingly, “Why do I get the impression that you’re not here to give me the date that you plan on coming back?”

“Yeah,” Neville admitted sheepishly, “I’m not.”

John gestured to the seat opposite his desk, “I saw this mornings article in the Prophet. I thought what you said was ground-breaking, congratulations.”

Neville sat down, “Thank you, sir. I was honoured to be asked to be Chief Warlock, even more so with the changes that are afoot.”

“Is that why you’re about to hand me your notice?” John asked.

Neville handed over the piece of parchment in his hands, “Not entirely.”

John scanned the piece of parchment then looked up at Neville, “Is there anything I can say to convince you to stay?”

Neville shook his head, “No, sir. I love being an Auror; I _loved_ being an Auror. But it’s time for me to make a change. I can go through physiotherapy, and I can train. I can work a desk until I feel ready to jump back in but…I don’t think I will ever trust my reflexes the same way again. I can’t guarantee that I could have my partners back in a duel and that’s not a risk I’m willing to take.”

John bowed his head in understanding.

“And after _years_ of trying to no avail, my wife is pregnant,” Neville said, beaming at John, “With twins. I just don’t want to miss any of that Shep. I want a stable job. I want to swelter in a greenhouse all summer and freeze all winter. I want to come home to my kids at a normal time every night, and I want to spend all summer teaching them everything I know.”

John smiled, “Congratulations, Neville.”

Neville couldn’t wipe the smile from his face.

“I can’t begrudge you for wanting a slower pace of life,” John said honestly, “But I am very sad to see you go. You were a fine Auror, had you stayed, you would have gotten promoted to Senior the minute you came back.”

“I appreciate that, John,” Neville said honestly, “But it’s time for me to move on.”

“Pastures new and all that?” John asked with a chuckle.

“Exactly,” Neville replied, “I’ll still be around. I’ll need to check in on Harry and drag his arse home when he gets too involved in a case after all.”

“I’ll send you a Patronus if I notice him starting to lose himself in work,” John promised Neville.

Neville nodded his thanks, “Thank you for everything over the years.”

John held out his hand, “Anytime.”

Neville shook it, then placed his badge on the table.

“Thank you for your service,” John said sincerely.

* * *

A knock sounded on the door of the homicide office then Neville stepped in. He looked better than he had done for a while, but nowhere near back to normal. He wore old jeans and a cardigan that was a bit baggy on him these days. He certainly had a rugged appearance, between the old clothes, the beard he was growing and his hair which was longer than usual. He relied on his cane all of the time at the moment, walking without it was too painful.

“Hey,” Neville said with a smile as he leant on his cane in the doorway.

“Hey,” Harry said brightly, “Come on in and sit down, Nev.”

Neville walked in with his head held high and sat down behind Harry’s desk. He didn’t want them to see how much pain he was in, but Harry knew. It was why he slipped something out of his pocket and put it into Neville’s coffee.

When he leant down to place the cup on the desk, he murmured, “Laced with pain potion.”

Neville smiled gratefully at his best friend.

“So what are you doing up here?” Draco asked conversationally.

“I was just handing in my notice, actually,” Neville admitted.

Harry seemed unsurprised by this.

“So you decided then? You aren’t coming back?” Draco asked him.

“I can’t,” Neville confessed, “I don’t trust my reflexes, and that’s not good enough in this job. I’ll take some time out to heal. I’ll help Kingsley restructure the Wizengamot and then next September; I’ll start my new job as Herbology Professor up at Hogwarts.”

“That’s a good call,” Harry said with a smile, “The Healers have all said that you ought to take it easy for six months which would take you up to…the end of February?”

Neville nodded, “Exactly, so I couldn’t start after Christmas, and I don’t think starting after Easter is a good idea either because the kids don’t want to deal with a new teacher at the end of the term. I’ll just need to come up with things to fill my time over the next year.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll come up with something once you’ve fixed the Wizengamot,” Harry said, grinning proudly at his fellow Gryffindor.

“Gryffindors, always saving the world,” Draco joked.

“I know. It’s exhausting, isn’t it?” Ben asked with a roll of his eyes.

Harry chuckled, “Ben fell out with his boyfriend this morning.”

“Ah, I see,” Neville laughed, “What did you fight about?”

“He found a stray dog and brought it home, but I’m allergic to it,” Ben admitted sheepishly, “So I told him, it was the dog or me then he stormed out and slammed the door.”

“Classic Gryffindor move – the slamming door,” Neville said with a nod.

Harry cocked his head, “Yeah, what does Lilly do when you fight?”

Neville frowned, “Uh, curses me usually. Either verbally or physically. It’s normally physical though. I hate the fact Ginny taught her how to use a bat-bogey-hex while she was dating Ron.”

“I always forget Lilly dated Ron back in the pre-Neville days,” Harry mused.

“She tries to forget too,” Neville joked.

“And on the bright side, at least he just brought home a dog Ben,” Draco said with a shrug, “Imagine being Harry’s other half, he brings home babies.”

“One,” Harry cut in with a snort, “I brought home one baby.”

“And a Boa Constrictor,” Draco added.

“But Dave and I have a profound bond!” Harry objected, “And Daphne wasn’t that bothered when I brought a baby home, she was just sort of like…I don’t know, what was she like Nev?”

“Uh, maybe we should keep him because he’s kind of cute and Teddy needs a friend,” Neville said with a shrug.

“Exactly,” Harry said with a nod, “I mean granted, she doesn’t like Dave, but he has his own house, so it’s okay.”

“Why don’t you build a big fancy dog house outside?” Neville asked Ben, “Then your boyfriend can have it both ways.”

“I’d sneeze and get blocked up every time he came in the house because of the dog fur though,” Ben said.

“Oh…yeah,” Neville frowned, “I guess it’s the dog or you then.”

“I bet you’re really hoping he doesn’t pick the dog, eh?” Harry teased.

Draco snorted.

“Well, I don’t think he’s into bestiality so yeah, I reckon he’ll pick me,” Ben smirked.

Draco sniggered, “Anyway, Neville, are you just going to hang out here rent-free? Because you’re a civilian now so I could kick you out.”

“I’m the Assistant Head Auror, which means that I’m your boss,” Harry told Draco, “And I want him to stay so you can’t kick him out.”

“What am I, your pet?” Neville sniggered.

“You can be the department cat,” Harry said, patting Neville on the head.

Neville swiped his hand away and pointed at the murder board, “Your time of death is wrong by the way.”

They all looked at the board, “How?” Draco asked incredulously.

“You’re assuming the time of death is 9.48 am because his watch was broken and that was the time on it,” Neville said, “But look at what he did for a living.”

They all did.

“Shit,” Harry muttered, “You’re right.”

“He was a construction worker,” Neville smirked, “His watch could have gotten broken on the job. I reckon he probably died in the evening – around 9 pm – when was the body discovered?”

“After midnight,” Harry replied, “And it did seem relatively fresh when we got to it. I’ll get Justin to chase that up and give me a time of death. Thanks, Nev.”

Neville smirked and sipped his coffee, “Department cat, my ass.”

* * *

“Hey, Wolfie!”

“I hate that nickname,” Rob growled.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, “The full moon in two days.”

“A.k.a the old man is being an arsehole,” Romilda said from where she was sitting with her feet up on the desk.

“I am not that old!”

“Wolfie, you’re old enough to be my Dad,” Romilda remarked.

Harry grinned, “I like you when you’re not trying to slip me love potions.”

Romilda shot Harry a long-suffering look, “Could we not talk about that? I was like 15 years old.”

Rob sniggered, and Harry grinned at the other new recruit, “Hey Dennis. How are you doing?”

“Good, mate,” Dennis replied, “Best call I made, deciding to do the photography on the side and become an Auror.”

“Yeah good for you, pal,” Harry said with a smile. He sat down on Romilda’s desk and shoved her feet onto the floor.

“Could you _not_? This is _my_ desk, and you don’t even work in this department,” Romilda remarked.

“Romilda sweetie, I’m the Assistant Head Auror, I can do what I want.”

Romilda raised an eyebrow at him, “I don’t care if you’re the Minister for Magic, if you call me sweetie again I’ll blast your arse into next week.”

Rob grinned, “I like her, Harry. You picked a couple of good ones for me this year.”

Harry snorted and said, “I’m here to brainstorm something with you guys.”

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at him, “Okay?”

“You do a brilliant job of keeping order in the Closes,” Harry began, “You really do. You help everyone who you can. You get so many kids out of dire situations and into a safe place since I opened up Lupin House but-”

“- it’s not enough,” Rob finished.

“Yeah, it’s not enough,” Harry agreed, “And a huge reason for that is that the department just doesn’t have a lot of cash right now. The money that we do have is funnelled into the main department, and CPS often doesn’t get a look in.”

Rob and Elizabeth both nodded.

“So this is from an anonymous rich dude,” Harry said, putting a check in front of them, “The guy is a bit of an arsehole but wants to help people in need, you know?”

Romilda snorted in amusement, “Does he also have an, admittedly rather nice, arse that he could get off my goddamn desk?”

Harry jumped down from the desk and shot Romilda an amused smile.

“Even if he did, he couldn’t tell us,” Elizabeth said, smiling cryptically at Harry, “Because it would be incredibly wrong for the Assistant Head Auror to donate money like that.”

“Which is why I’m just the messenger,” Harry said with an amused smile, “But it’s a decent-sized check. It will give you guys the money to employ caretakers and cleaners. You will be able to improve and maintain living conditions in the Closes and hopefully even improve access. Let’s open up these Closes, let’s not make them look like hidden streets that we don’t want the world to see.”

Rob smiled proudly.

“These Closes are beautiful with their cobbled stones, they just need a little work,” Harry continued, “So let’s improve access and let’s make them a part of the alley. Let’s clean the outside of them up so that they aren’t an eyesore. Let’s put balconies on them so that the people who live in the front flats can look out onto Diagon Alley. If we make these flats nice living spaces, then the people in them are not going to feel ashamed anymore.”

Rob looked down at the check, “You realise there is more than enough money to do that?”

“I know,” Harry said, “Which is why you could use whatever was left over to help boost employment. Why do the majority of people in the Closes not work?”

“Because they are Squibs,” Rob replied.

“Or they were expelled from school and are therefore not allowed to use magic,” Elizabeth added.

“Sometimes it’s because of childcare,” Romilda cut in, “Many of the women in the Closes are single mothers with no support system.”

“So a nursery would help get some of them into employment and therefore improve their quality of life,” Harry said.

“And there are a lot of jobs that people without magic can do,” Dennis cut in, “Most of them around Diagon Alley, conveniently enough.”

“Exactly, Dennis!” Harry said, pointing in the boy's direction, “I’m thinking employment schemes. Send Liz to negotiate with shop owners in Diagon Alley because let’s face it, Rob, you’re a great Auror, but your people skills leave something to be desired.”

Rob snorted, and Elizabeth chuckled.

“Do you think the shop-owners would agree?” Elizabeth asked curiously.

“Some of them will, some of them won’t,” Harry confessed, “But there are a lot of opportunities. Would Madam Malkin benefit from having someone to work in the back room, sorting the fabric, helping count the cash and close up at the end of the day? I’m sure that she would.”

“And Toms getting old, he’s always looking for help around the Leaky,” Dennis said.

“I’m sure I could convince old Ichabod at the apothecary to take on one or two people to help keep the stockroom clean and to run errands for him,” Romilda added.

“Then there’s the new ice cream parlour, they always need temporary staff in the summer,” Harry said, “But all of these people overlook applicants from the Closes so let’s help them get into employment. Let’s coach them through interviews, teach them the skills that they need to get a job, help them dress appropriately for an interview. You know?”

“It’s brilliant, Harry,” Rob said honestly.

“And very clever,” Elizabeth added, “Creating jobs would boost the local economy which would be good for the Ministry. But it would also be aiding poverty by getting those in need into those jobs.”

“There are a lot of jobs for people who can’t do magic,” Harry agreed, “Dennis was right about that. They are all on the lowest end of the paygrade – cleaners, people to work in shops, cafes, pubs, etc. But to these people, that could be the dream job. Most of the single mothers that you talked about earlier Romilda, they work on the side in Knockturn to feed their kids.”

Romilda nodded, “I can’t count how many births my sister attended in the Closes where the situation was that a girl had gotten pregnant by a client. They were all distraught about having another mouth to feed when they had gotten pregnant by trying to keep their first kid afloat.”

Harry sighed, “No woman should have to sell their body to feed their kid. Everyone deserves a chance, if we give them a chance and they blow it then that’s on them, but the majority of the people in the Closes are ashamed of their situation but do not have the means to better themselves so let’s give them the means.”

“We will,” Rob said with a nod, “Don’t worry kid, we will.”

Harry hit Rob on the shoulder, “And try to stop PMS-ing Rob.”

Rob rolled his eyes, “Shut up.”

“Oh come on, I can slag you off. I’m your moon buddy!”

“Don’t say that,” Rob muttered.

Romilda sniggered, and Harry grinned, “See you in a couple of days. I’ll lock you up in Neville’s shed and stand guard outside the door, alright?”

“Alright.”

“Don’t eat any cute fluffy rabbits this time!” Harry said as he swept out of the building.

“Fuck you!” Rob called after him.

“Rabbits?” Elizabeth quipped, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Just….don’t,” Rob said, “I was picking fur out of my teeth for a week.”

Romilda sniggered, and Rob glared at her, “And you, Evita, keep your mouth shut.”

“Would you quit calling me Evita?” Romilda scoffed, “I had one affair with a trainer now everyone thinks I’m a whore.”

“Rumours fly at the training centre,” Elizabeth said sympathetically, “It just takes one, and then you get a nickname, unfortunately. Try not to take it personally; Rob has a nickname for everyone.”

“You haven’t given me one yet,” Dennis said.

Rob cocked his head at the younger boy, “Otter.”

“What?”

“You look like an otter,” Rob remarked offhandedly, “Alright then! I’m going to take this beautiful thing to the bank,” he waved the check under their noses, “Evita, take otter up to Lupin House and get the weekly figures for me.”

Romilda glared at him, “Come on, Dennis. Ignore the old man; he’s just a grumpy old dog.”

“Oi, watch it!”

“You smell of wet dog!”

“No, I don’t!”

* * *

It had been a few days since the trial when Draco decided to cheer everyone in Grimmauld Place up.

“Let’s go somewhere.”

Theo looked up, “What?”

“Where?” Hermione asked.

“Let’s just go out for the day,” Draco said. He pushed himself out of his armchair, “We’ll head north. I just want to get away from the city and spend the day somewhere different, somewhere with clean, fresh air. Do you know what I mean?”

Theo sighed appreciatively, “Mate, that sounds like a dream right now.”

Sadie smiled, “Okay, but give us half an hour to bundle the kids up if we’re heading north. It’s October, and it will be freezing up there.”

“And since it was your idea, _you_ can wrestle Caspian into a snowsuit,” Hermione added.

Draco chuckled and agreed. They got the kids in warm clothes and bribed Ella into putting her welly boots on then Draco told them the co-ordinates of a place he liked to go walking, and they all apparated there with the kids in tow.

Draco reached the location first, and he stood with Caspian in his arms while he waited for the others. Hermione arrived next, holding onto Ella’s hand tightly to make sure that she didn’t run away.

“Do you think he’s going to like it?” Hermione whispered.

“I think he’s going to love it,” Draco replied, “What do you think?”

“I’ll hold off on judging until I’ve seen the inside,” Hermione answered.

With a crack, Sadie appeared, holding onto Almina’s hand. She shot Draco a surprised look and mouthed, “Really?”

Draco grinned and nodded.

Lastly, Theo appeared with Charlus.

“Nice,” Theo said when he saw the castle that loomed in the distance, “The grounds are free to roam in, I guess?”

“It’s abandoned, so yes,” Draco answered.

“Where are we?” Theo asked, looking around at the beautiful rugged scenery.

“In the middle of the Cairngorms,” Draco replied, he kicked open the gate and stepped into the grounds of the massive castle that stood before them, “The nearest town is Hogsmeade – it’s about 5 miles that way.”

Theo looked up at the castle, “It looks like it’s seen better days.”

“It has,” Draco agreed, “It’s been empty for a while but look at this setting - 295 acres of land, a five-bedroom coach house just over that way. Two smaller cottages around the back too. Not to mention the stables.”

Theo stopped in his tracks and turned to look at his best friend.

“It has 120 rooms, 13 bedrooms, a ballroom, a library,” Draco continued, “The front part of the house is Victorian, and the back is the original medieval tower. It’s a stone throw from Hogsmeade and Hogwarts, and I put an offer down on it this morning.”

Theo stared at him.

“I can retract it if you don’t like the place though,” Draco added.

“No!” Almina said, “It’s a castle, Daddy! We would be like Kings and Queens and princesses!”

“And I could get a horse!” Charlus said.

“I could get a Hippogriff!”

“No,” Draco cut in, “Not happening. Horses and ponies are fine, no Hippogriffs.”

Hermione smiled slightly, but Theo didn’t laugh or tease Draco. Instead, he looked at his best friend tearfully, “You’re serious?”

“We all live together in Grimmauld Place right now, and it works,” Draco said quietly, “We lived together for years in two houses so why buy two small houses in London when we can have a castle in the highlands of Scotland? We can hunt like we used to when we were kids, we can go out riding. I thought getting away from London to where the air is clearer might help _you_ to clear your head.”

Theo nodded and swallowed a lump in his throat. He pulled Draco into a hug and squeezed him tightly, “Thank you,” he said, his voice rough with emotion.

“Don’t thank me till you’ve seen inside the place,” Draco joked with a half-smile, “Who wants the tour?”

“Me!”

“Yeah, and me!”

Almina and Charlus were the most eager. Hermione asked her husband, “So how much work does it need, exactly?”

“Not too much for wizards. Redecoration mostly,” Draco assured her, “It’s structurally sound, I promise.”

Hermione nodded, and while they walked towards the castle, Draco pointed out the coach house, the two small cottages and the stables that came with the land. The grand wooden doors swung open at his touch, and he led the others into an entrance corridor which had a white marble floor and a brass railing on the stairs that led up into the entrance hall.

They followed him silently, and he led the tour, “This is the drawing-room, it needs a new floor and a lick of paint. Across the hall is the dining room, it’s in better condition, but it needs to be redecorated.”

“Was this a muggle house or a wizarding house?” Hermione asked curiously.

“Wizarding, but it hasn’t been lived in since the first war with Voldemort,” Draco admitted.

Sadie looked over at him and lowered her voice, “Please tell me there wasn’t a massacre here like there was at Bones Manor?”

“The massacre wasn’t _here_ ,” Draco said, “It was the family home of the McKinnons who were all killed in the war. But they were killed in the safehouse that they were using, not here.”

“You can ask Harry if you don’t believe him,” Theo said as he looked at the high ceilings, “He’ll have access to the records through the ministry.”

“I believe you,” Hermione said.

“So do I,” Sadie agreed, “Its just…this place seems too good to be true.”

“Wait until you see downstairs,” Draco said sheepishly, “You’ll see why I got such a good price on it.”

“That sounds ominous,” Sadie muttered.

Draco ignored her and said, “Come on, I’ll show you the basement first, and you can see what I mean.”

He led them down a set of stairs that were straight ahead, and when they emerged, they could instantly see the problem.

“It’s underwater,” Hermione said.

“Yeah it’s a bit flooded, hence why I told you all to wear wellingtons,” Draco remarked as he stepped into the water which was about three inches high, “ _But,_ the water can be drained away, and the flood damage is easily fixed with magic. This place has so much potential, just wait until you see everything that’s down here.”

“If we’re having the tour, let’s not have it while wading through three inches of water,” Sadie said with a shake of her head. She used an intricate little charm which heated the water and made it evaporate away, leaving muddy floors where the water had once been.

“Much better. Thank you, Sadie,” Hermione said with a smile.

“Your charm work is amazing,” Draco confessed.

Sadie smiled proudly, “Thank you. What’s so amazing about this basement?”

Draco grinned, “Well straight across there; you have a bathroom. This is just a storage room,” he gestured to the room directly beside the staircase, “In here is the kitchen.”

He led them into a huge kitchen, “I know the water damaged it but look at the size of it!”

“It’s bigger than the one in Potter Manor,” Theo agreed as he looked around.

“It has a pantry and a scullery,” Draco said. He led them back out into the main corridor, “And down here is a laundry. That room at the end of the corridor is a wine cellar.”

“What about these two?”

“I don’t know what they were initially used for,” Draco confessed, “But this one is going to become a bar, and this one is long and thin which would make it a perfect duelling room.”

Theo peered inside another room, “This one is small and square, it would make a neat little potions lab.”

“I thought the same thing,” Draco admitted, “Out there is a large courtyard, the house and the tower part are sort of on different levels so you can get in at basement level. That’s how this level flooded, I think.”

They peered out the windows at the walled courtyard.

“There’s a broom shed out there and two other concrete stores,” Draco replied, “One was probably used for coal, I suspect.”

He led them through a corridor with thick walls, “This is the passage into the older part of the castle. That staircase goes up to the ground floor too.”

Draco had indicated at an old spiral staircase, “And this…”

They stepped out into a large, stone-built cellar, “Will make an excellent whiskey store, so the Nott family don’t need to give up the business.”

Theo chuckled, “You thought about everything, didn’t you?”

“I tried to, yes,” Draco confessed, “If we’re doing this, I think we ought to do it right.”

“And you’re far more thoughtful than you would ever like anyone to know,” Sadie said, kissing Draco on the cheek.

Hermione smiled as Draco’s cheeks flushed and he changed the subject, “Right, come on upstairs then! There’s a lot more to see!”

They followed him up the spiral staircase and emerged in a corridor off of the entrance hall, “I think we’ll turn that little room into a playroom and put in a child-sized door from the drawing-room. It was originally a tapestry room, but exposure to the elements meant that the tapestry disappeared a long time ago. I thought we could take the family tree from your house and put it on one wall of the drawing-room and we will put a new Black family tree on the opposite wall.”

They let him carry on showing them around while he talked about his grand visions, “Through here is a bedroom with an adjoining bathroom. It has its own doorway which comes out at the side of the house so I thought it would be a good spare room for when parents or the like come to visit.”

“Obviously, this is an old wizarding house which means there are secret passageways everywhere. I’ve found a few; there are two narrow doorways in this corridor…”

They walked through the bedroom into the hallway that led outside. On each side were two narrow doorways with steep steps leading upwards.

“They go up to the bedrooms upstairs so we will have to hide them well,” Draco explained, “And if we make the rooms upstairs kids room, we’ll ward them until the kids are old enough to be trusted.”

“Which will be never,” Theo joked, looking down at his kids with an amused smile.

Sadie laughed, and they followed Draco up the spiral staircase, “Oh, I forgot to say. That staircase we used to go down to the basement from the entrance hall?”

They all nodded.

“It also goes upwards but not to this floor,” Draco explained, “Access to the first floor is only through the spiral staircase.”

“So where does that other staircase go?” Hermione asked with a frown.

Draco shot her a smile, “To the house-elves quarters. They have their own large, comfortable living space up there.”

Hermione beamed, “Draco! That’s so thoughtful!”

“Someone is getting laid tonight,” Theo murmured in Draco’s ear.

“Shut up,” Draco said, shooting Theo an amused smile.

“This floor is huge,” Hermione said as she stepped off the staircase.

Draco nodded, “It’s in two halves. On this side of the staircase is the new house and up a couple of steps on the other side of the staircase are the two bedrooms that can be accessed by those secret passageways downstairs. I thought it would make sense to make this floor for the kids' bedrooms.”

“Where would our bedrooms be?” Hermione asked with a frown.

“A few floors up, but hear me out!” Draco said, holding a finger up before she could start ranting.

“This isn’t a big house; it’s a castle. The upkeep is going to be huge, which means we can’t just take the two elves we have and expect them to manage. We need a household of elves.”

Hermione narrowed her eyes at Draco but said nothing as he continued. “There is a nursery here,” he opened a door into a small room, “And two big rooms. Those could be Ella and Cas’s rooms long-term and the two rooms across the hall have an adjoining door so they could be Mina and Charlie’s rooms.”

“There is one more room on this floor, and then the nursery if you two ever do decide to adopt,” Draco said, looking at Sadie and Theo, “And this little room would be for the nanny elf.”

“The nanny elf?” Hermione echoed.

Sadie bit her lip.

“Yes.”

Theo grimaced.

“The _nanny_ elf?”

“She would just be here in case the kids woke up at night,” Draco assured his wife, “It’s only because the bedrooms are spread across the house so much.”

Hermione took a deep breath and breathed out slowly, “Would our bedrooms be one floor up?”

“Uh no, two floors up,” Draco said sheepishly, “There’s a ballroom and a library in-between.”

“We would have to vet the nanny elf very carefully,” Sadie cut in, “But an elf can be trusted far more than a person so, in principle, I am alright with that idea.”

“So am I,” Theo said, “Lacey and I both had a nanny elf, and she was great. She used to give me fudge all of the time…”

Draco smiled in amusement, “I had one too. It’s necessary when you live somewhere this big. Would you guys be okay with a nanny elf keeping an eye on you at night time?”

The question was directed at Almina and Charlus because Elladora was too young to comprehend what was happening.

“Would she be evil?” Charlus asked with a frown.

“Absolutely not,” Hermione replied.

“Okay then,” Charlus said.

Almina nodded, “Uh-huh. Daddy, can I have a princess bed with pink curtains?”

Sadie shot Theo an amused smile, “Can she, Daddy?”

“Of course you can baby,” Theo said, smiling broadly at his daughter.

It made the others smile too because it was the most genuine smile that they had seen on his face for weeks.

“I’m still not happy about the nanny elf, so this library that you mentioned better be good,” Hermione remarked.

“I second that comment since I will have to use it for work,” Sadie chuckled.

“I don’t think you will be disappointed,” Draco said with a smile, “Come on up.”

They all trekked up the spiral staircase once more. At the top, Draco said, “Only the tower goes up this high. This is what I meant about the house being on different levels.”

Surely enough, when you looked out of the windows in the corridor, you could see the roof of the Victorian house section of the property from the higher medieval tower that they were in now.

“In here we have the ballroom,” Draco said gesturing inside at a grand room, decorated in blues and bronze.

“Were the McKinnon’s traditionally a Ravenclaw family?” Hermione asked curiously.

“Yep, however did you guess?” Theo teased, nudging Hermione in the ribs.

She nudged him back, “Shut up, smart arse.”

“Brightest witch of your age?” Theo scoffed, “Pfft.”

“Behave,” Sadie said with a slight smile.

Draco chuckled and opened a door in the ballroom, “And ladies here is your library.”

It was smaller than the library in Grimmauld Place but higher. Tall ladders were mounted on each wall, and the shelves went from the floor to the ceiling.

“This is beautiful,” Sadie said.

Hermione nodded and said, “Look, we even have a nice big window to sit by while we talk about theories.”

Sadie chuckled, “We just need a big comfortable chair right there, and we’re sorted.”

“There are a ton of secret passageways coming off of this room,” Draco added, “Including the oldest one in the book.”

Theo grinned and stepped forward. He pulled an old battered copy of one book out and pushed another back in. The section of the bookshelf in front of them then swung open.

“Is there a wizarding manor that _doesn’t_ work in?” Sadie asked with a laugh.

“Malfoy Manor, Nott Manor, Potter Manor,” Draco said with a chuckle, “They all have it. I’m not sure about Longbottom House, mind you.”

“What’s actually in here?” Hermione asked, clearing the dust and looking inside.

“Traditionally it’s a secret study,” Draco answered.

Surely enough all that was inside the room was a small desk. There was another narrow doorway that led into another room, lined with cabinets.

“Family files,” Draco said, gesturing to the cabinets, “And if you slip through here, it brings you out behind this old tapestry by the big window in the ballroom.”

“Cool!” Almina and Charlus said in unison as they jumped out of the passageway.

“There’s a secret staircase in that cupboard over there as well,” Draco pointed at the small store cupboard on the other side of the room, “It takes you up to one of the bedrooms.”

“So the rooms that would be ours are upstairs?” Hermione asked.

Draco nodded and said, “We need to use the original tower staircase from here on out, so it’s a bit narrower.”

They went up a few stairs, and Draco pointed into a room that was slightly smaller than the library, “That’s the study.”

At the top of the staircase, they emerged into a long landing, “And this is the top floor. Through this door is the tower bedroom. It’s small, and the only bathroom access is along this corridor to that bathroom at the end there, so I didn’t think it was a good idea for kids.”

He opened the door and showed them inside, “But it’s a nice room for guests.”

The room had a high, ornate roof and was circular.

“It’s lovely,” Sadie agreed.

“And these rooms would be ours,” Draco said, “They are the nicest bedrooms in the place. Come on; I’ll show you.”

The bedrooms were huge with beautiful, high vaulted ceilings.

“That’s an ensuite bathroom,” Draco said, pointing to one door, “And that’s a dressing room. The other room is the same layout but mirrored.”

“Is that a balcony?” Hermione asked eagerly.

Draco smiled, “Yes, I know you and Sadie like to drink wine on the roof terrace, and I thought you might miss that. Take a look at the views.”

They held the kids' hands tightly as they stepped out onto the stone balcony. You could see straight across the hills to…

“Is that Hogwarts?” Hermione asked.

“Uh-huh,” Draco grinned.

“You can see the train station too, look,” Theo said, pointing eagerly out at the landscape.

“And the tops of the houses in Hogsmeade,” Sadie said.

Theo cleared his throat, “Draco, I don’t know what to say. You… I mean you’ve just hit the jackpot here, this is…”

“I know,” Draco said, smiling at his best friend, “It’s amazing, and I think it’s just what we need right now. A _fresh_ start.”

“Uh Draco, where does this door-”

Sadie opened the door she had been pointing at and raised an eyebrow at Draco, “It’s an adjoining door to the other bedroom.”

“Yeah,” Draco said, “That was there when I bought the castle. We can get rid of it easily enough.”

“I’ll say the same thing I said when you asked if we should ward the door in the basement of Grimmauld Place,” Hermione said, looking at Draco with a knowing smile, “What would be the point?”

Theo chuckled, “You just keep surprising me, Princess,” he said warmly.

“You need to stop calling me that,” Hermione chuckled, “Almina thinks I’m actually a princess, you know?”

“Oh you’re not a princess,” Theo grinned, “You’re a Queen, Mina said it, didn’t you baby? That’s it; we own a castle now. It’s official; we’re the Kings and Queens of the highlands of Scotland!”

They all laughed, and Draco said, “So you don’t want me to retract the offer then?”

“Definitely not, but if this is _our_ home, we’ll split the price,” Theo said, “You’re not allowed to win back my affection by buying me a castle.”

“You did say you always wanted to live in a castle,” Draco smirked.

“I did, but you can’t buy my love, I’m not that fickle,” Theo said, shooting his best friend a grin, “When I sell number 11, I’ll make sure the money goes to you.”

“If you insist,” Draco said simply, “We don’t intend on selling Grimmauld Place. We’re keeping it as our London residence, and you can stay there whenever you like. The wards will let you all in any way.”

“That makes a degree of sense,” Theo said, looking out at the countryside, “Does this place have a name, by the way?”

“It was always called Castle McKinnon,” Draco answered, “But I thought we ought to change the name since the McKinnon’s died out a long time ago.”

Theo raised an eyebrow at him, “You called it Castle Black, didn’t you?”

“No,” Draco replied. He looked away from the scenic view and caught Theo’s eye, “It’s called Blacknot Castle.”

Theo swallowed and nodded, “Is it?”

Draco put his arm around his best friends shoulder, “Yes, it is.”

Theo let a couple of tears fall and took a steadying breath, “Blacknot Castle…our fresh start.”

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	30. I Don't Love You, But I Always Will

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:
> 
> Poison & Wine by The Civil Wars.

“Sorry I’m late, I was doing work on the castle until late last night,” Draco said, sweeping into the office with coffee, “I brought coffee. How do you two take it?”

“However I’m given it,” Owen said, grabbing a coffee eagerly.

Harry snorted, “Rude.”

Ben grinned and said, “I’m with Owen here, if it’s got caffeine in it, I’ll drink it.”

“Mine better have milk in it,” Harry said, peering inside the cup Draco had handed him.

“Of course it does, I’ve worked with you for long enough to know that you like your coffee like a builder,” Draco smirked as he sipped his black coffee.

“Did you say castle, by the way?” Ben asked.

“Yeah, he just bought his boyfriend a castle,” Harry said offhandedly.

“I didn’t buy him a castle. I bought _us_ a castle,” Draco corrected, “It’s a fresh start.”

“- clean air, away from the pollution of London,” Harry said with a wave of his hand, “Uh-huh, I get it. Why else would I be letting my wife and her boss move my entire house up to the Lake District?”

“Because you want to be closer to Neville?” Draco quipped.

“Right, you literally just bought Theo a castle and didn’t deny it when I called him your boyfriend, so you do not get to judge,” Harry said, pointing the finger at Draco.

Owen sniggered, “Where is the castle?”

“In the highlands of Scotland,” Draco answered, “You can see Hogwarts from the bedroom window.”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Are you going to enjoy long horse rides and hunts like the aristocratic prat that you are?”

“Of course,” Draco scoffed, “What are you and Neville going to do once you’ve moved your Manor?”

“Not that,” Harry snorted, “I’ll probably just hang out in his greenhouse and go wading in the lake with him to harvest weird and wonderful potions ingredients.”

“You’re such a Hufflepuff, Potter,” Draco scoffed.

“You’re such a Slytherin, Malfoy.”

“Okay A. That’s not an insult, it’s just a fact and B. It is Black, it has been Black for _years_. I literally just named my castle Blacknot Castle so quit it with the Malfoy shit.”

“You named it Blacknot Castle?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“Yes, I did.”

“And you’re still denying that Theo’s your boyfriend?” Harry quipped.

Draco raised an eyebrow at him.

Harry crossed his arms over his chest, “You’re not denying it.”

“No, I’m not.”

Ben shrugged, “Cool.”

Owen nodded, “Yeah, whatever.”

The door opened, and Jason walked in with Terry. They surveyed the scene, “What did we miss while we were trying to escape from Justin’s clutches?”

“Just Draco finally accepting the long-held truth that Theo is his boyfriend,” Harry said, patting Draco on the back.

Jason nodded calmly, “Fair enough.”

“Took you long enough,” Terry added.

Draco rolled his eyes, “Has someone been murdered?”

“Yes, a hooker from the Closes,” Harry answered.

“Great. Could we maybe focus more on solving her murder and less on my personal life, please?” Draco asked snarkily.

“Since you finally decided to grace us with your presence, of course we can,” Harry said, shooting Draco a smirk, “Everyone has to address him as King Black now by the way, he owns a castle.”

“Oh fuck off Potter.”

* * *

_Knock. Knock._

“Come in!” John called, pouring himself a cup of coffee and turning as the door to his office opened.

Theo walked in and smiled, “Morning, sir.”

“Morning, Theo,” John replied with a smile, “How are you doing?”

“Oh, I’m getting there,” Theo said honestly, “But it’s a long road and a slow one too. That’s why I’m here.”

John sat down behind his desk and gestured for Theo to sit down in front of it.

Theo did so, “I’m here to resign, sir.”

John sighed, “Yeah, I had a feeling you were going to say that and the thing is, I really don’t want you to do that.”

“I can’t come back,” Theo confessed, “I need a different pace of life after….”

“I understand that,” John said honestly, “Has this got anything to do with the castle that Draco bought you?”

“How do you know about that?” Theo asked in surprise.

“He told Harry Potter, so naturally, the whole department knows,” John said calmly as he leant back and sipped his coffee.

Theo snorted, “Well, yes. We’re moving north for a fresh start, and part of that fresh start involves me not coming back to the Aurors. I can’t put my family through that again, and I refuse to put my kids through it again.”

“So it’s being in the firing line that’s the problem?” John asked.

Theo nodded, “In essence, yes.”

“Okay then,” John said, “I will accept your resignation as a serving Auror if you sign a new contract for me.”

Theo frowned, “What do you mean?”

“Be a consultant,” John said, surveying Theo as he leant back in his chair.

“A consultant?”

John nodded, “What you did with those maps was ground-breaking. I want to advance on that magic. I want a map of London that we can use for surveillance purposes. A map that is linked to magical signatures and shows us what witches and wizards are in London. Imagine, Theo. A murder is committed, and we can trace who was in that location through a surveillance map?”

Theo frowned as he thought about this.

“You are smart, Theo and you are forward-thinking,” John said to the younger man, “You have brilliant ideas, and I think you could bring this department into the 21st century. You would be office based; you wouldn’t be allowed out in the field so it would be safe.”

Theo grinned, “Really?”

John nodded, “Really.”

“I can do whatever I want?” Theo asked eagerly.

“No, you need written permission from the Head Auror first,” John said, narrowing his eyes at Theo, “Why? Do you have more ideas?”

“Hundreds,” Theo grinned, “I’ll run my best ones by you – flying patrol cars?”

“No.”

“Why not?” Theo objected.

“1. They are not conspicuous.

  1. Apparating is faster.
  2. Floo powder is faster.
  3. Too dangerous.
  4. They are far too expensive.”



John rattled these off on his fingers.

“But they look cool!”

“That may be true, but reasons 1 to 5 still stand,” John remarked, his eyes glinting with amusement.

“Bring back Auror boxes.”

“No,” John replied, “They are old-fashioned, and people abused them, which put a strain on our already limited resources.”

“But-”

“I don’t care if you think they look like time machines – no.”

Theo rolled his eyes, “So what you are saying is that you want me to be a consultant but that my ideas have to fit within your shitty budget?”

“Yep.”

Theo made a face, “You know how to solve all of our problems, don’t you?”

John raised an eyebrow at him.

“Taxes.”

“If you want to become the most hated man in the wizarding world, you ought to suggest that to the Wizengamot,” John smirked.

“Yeah. I’m not going to do that,” Theo said matter of factly, “And for the record, I don’t think you’re going to pass any of my ideas. You might just fire me once I’ve finished your map of London.”

“There’s every chance, but at least it will keep you busy for a little while,” John said. He grinned and held out his hand.

Theo shook it.

“It’s nice to keep you in the DMLE family, Theo,” John said with a smile.

“Out of interest, why didn’t you try and keep Neville on?” Theo asked curiously.

John sighed, “I did think about it, but it was different with Neville. He loved being in the field, but he would go mad at a desk. You – however – you’ll start working on a map at 4 pm and then suddenly you’ll feel a bit hungry, look at a clock and realise it’s gone midnight.”

“True,” Theo admitted.

“Neville is a typical Gryffindor, he’s black and white, he’s in, or he’s out,” John continued, “Once he had made his mind up, that was it. I sensed more conflict in your decision, and if I’m honest, I’m desperate to keep you on. You’re the smartest Auror in the department, Theo. I’m not going to let you go that easily.”

Theo smiled proudly, “Thanks, Shep.”

“There are conditions though,” John said, eying Theo cautiously.

“Therapy?” Theo guessed.

“I was going to call it counselling, but in essence – yes,” John answered, “You can’t come back until you get the all-clear from Caroline. That might take one session, or it might take ten. She needs to sign you off as fit to work before you can come back though.”

“Yeah, I understand that,” Theo said honestly, “But Caroline…I mean…”

“She’s the department's mental health Healer, Theo,” John said, “She knows how to be impartial, and she is the person you need to speak to before I can let you come back.”

Theo nodded.

“Your first session with her is on Monday morning, okay?”

“Yeah, Shep, I’ll be there,” Theo promised him.

* * *

“It is not my turn to go down there!”

“It is!”

“No, it isn’t! He kissed me the last time, he actually bloody kissed me!”

“You led him on by kissing him on the cheek!”

Theo snorted from the doorway, “Whose Harry been kissing?”

“Justin kissed _me_ ,” Harry said irritably, “So I’m not going down there.”

“We went this morning,” Terry said.

Jason nodded, “So it’s not our turn.”

Harry and Draco both turned to the Juniors.

“Oh, come on!” Ben exclaimed.

“Ben, you’re gay. Can’t you just flirt back?”

Draco raised an eyebrow at Harry, “Wow, that’s offensive.”

“Yes, it is,” Ben agreed, crossing his arms, “You just assume because I’m gay that I’ll flirt with anyone?”

Theo stepped into the room and sat down on Draco’s desk as he watched this argument play out in amusement.

“Well let’s be honest, Benjy, you _will_ flirt with anyone.”

Everyone turned to the doorway because the voice they had just heard was an unfamiliar one. A young man, around the same age as Ben, stood there. He was a little shorter than Ben, with dark-brown hair, deep green eyes and chiselled features. He had a Gryffindor scarf draped loosely around his shoulders as he leant in the doorway with his hands shoved in his pockets.

Ben rolled his eyes, “Everyone, this is Dan. Dan, this is everyone.”

“ _This_ is Dan?” Draco asked, looking at Ben’s boyfriend in amusement.

“The _infamous_ Dan?” Harry continued.

Dan grinned, “Infamous?”

“He does not shut up about you, mate,” Owen remarked.

Dan’s grin widened, “Funny because, at home, all he talks about is Harry Potter.”

Harry raised an eyebrow at Ben.

“I do not,” Ben muttered, “Why are you here, anyway?”

“You forgot your keys this morning,” Dan said, throwing a set of keys in Ben’s direction.

The blond boy reached up and caught them effortlessly, “Thanks.”

“I better get going, or I’ll be late to open up the shop,” Dan said with a natural smile, “It was nice meeting you guys. It’s cool to put a face to the names I hear.”

“Uh-huh,” Draco agreed, “Nice to meet you, Dan.”

Dan left without another word, and Draco shot Ben an amused grin, “What was it you said when you started working here? _None of you are my type_.”

Harry rolled his eyes because he could see where this was going, “Don’t go there, Draco.”

“Yes, don’t,” Ben agreed.

“I think he looks more like Theo anyway,” Harry admitted.

Ben’s cheeks flushed, and Theo winked at him, “He is dashingly handsome like me, isn’t he?”

Draco bit his lip in amusement, “What are you doing here anyway?”

“Well, I was handing my resignation in, but Shep wouldn’t let me,” Theo said with a grin, “So Auror Nott is no longer. You are now looking at Theodore Nott – inventor – charm expert – _consultant_.”

“You’re in charge of the department's magical advancements?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“Yes, Harry, yes, I am.”

“Oh Merlin help us,” Draco said with a roll of his eyes, “Please tell me Shep has to okay your ideas first.”

“Unfortunately he does,” Theo admitted, “And he already said no to flying cars.”

“What?” Harry asked, “Flying cars would be amazing! Could you imagine how much faster we would get around if we had a fleet of flying cars?”

“Shep said it was too expensive,” Theo said sadly, “If only we had a rich Auror with enough money and not enough sense who was willing to fork out for a fleet of jaguar E-types that I could turn into flying patrol cars…”

Harry snorted, “If I was single, I’d agree in a heartbeat, but I am not. Daphne would _kill_ me, and Lilly would help her.”

Theo chuckled, “I better get going. I’ve got an entire kitchen to dry out, and Hermione is insisting that I get it done today because the kitchen is the most important room in the house apparently.”

“She has a point, you do kind of need it for meal preparation,” Owen pointed out.

“Yes, but would living on takeaways really be that bad?” Theo asked.

“Yes, it would be. Listen to my wife and get the kitchen done but don’t touch the wiring because you _will_ kill yourself. I’ll do it tonight when I get home, okay?” Draco instructed.

“I’m not that useless!” Theo objected.

“You failed Muggle studies!” Draco said in disbelief, “You thought the Titanic was a space ship!”

“You also thought that Argon was a character in Lord of the Rings, not a chemical element,” Harry said.

The others snickered at that.

Theo rolled his eyes.

“Don’t touch anything muggle,” Draco said firmly.

“Yes, dear,” Theo teased. He shot them a grin, “See you guys later unless I electrocute myself of course. In which case, give me a bigger and better funeral than you did last time!”

“Fuck off, Theo!” Draco called, shutting the door behind his best friend.

As soon as he was gone, Harry smirked, “Watch out Draco, you’ve just admitted that Theo’s your boyfriend, and now we know that Ben fancies him.”

“I don’t fancy him,” Ben snorted, “He’s good looking, I’ll give you that, but he’s not my type.”

“We’ve seen your type, he looks like Theo,” Jason pointed out.

Terry smirked, “When he says ‘type’, I don’t think he’s talking about looks.”

Ben looked away sheepishly.

“Ah,” Harry grinned, “So this is a personality thing then?”

“No,” Draco smirked, “It’s a house thing. Ben _likes_ Gryffindors.”

“Fuck off.”

“He fancies you, Harry,” Draco said, clapping Harry on the shoulder.

Harry rolled his eyes, “Leave the poor kid alone. You’re the one playing house with Theo.”

“Have we all forgotten about the fact that you are moving your whole manor to the Lake District so that you can live next door to Neville?” Draco asked, crossing his arms and looking at his partner in disbelief.

“Yeah, but that wasn’t my decision,” Harry pointed out, “My wife decided that. Now, as much as I want to stand here and slag Ben off for fancying Gryffindors. I mean, why would you? We’re terrible people.”

“I agree,” Draco said with an amused smile, “Impossibly stubborn, ridiculously hot-headed, but good in the bedroom.”

“That’s more than I ever wanted to know about Hermione’s sex life,” Harry said with a shake of his head, “Come on, let’s go and talk to Justin together. Less gossiping, more murder solving guys!”

Draco rolled his eyes but followed Harry out of the office anyway. They walked into the back corridor silently, then Harry turned to Draco and said, “Okay, what happened between you and Theo?”

“What do you mean?” Draco asked cluelessly.

“What do I mean?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow, “One minute you two were at breaking point. It was make or break, and then you came in here as happy as larry. Now you’re buying a castle together?”

“So?”

“So, what happened?” Harry asked in disbelief, “Did you shag him?”

“No, I didn’t shag him,” Draco scoffed.

Harry grabbed Draco before he could apparate away, “Did you make out with him?”

“No,” Draco replied quickly, _too quickly_.

“Holy shit, you did,” Harry said, dropping Draco’s arm.

“Could we not talk about this, Potter?” Draco asked irritably, “We have a murder to solve, remember?”

Harry stepped into the apparition circle, “It must have been good a snog since you bought him a castle.”

“Fuck off, Potter.”

* * *

“Sorry, sorry. I’m a terrible Aunt, I know!”

Daphne rolled her eyes at Lilly as the front door opened.

“But I’m back!”

“We’re in the kitchen!” Daphne called. She lowered her voice, “Be prepared for judgement and heavy use of the word ‘darling’, Lil.”

“I know, I have met your sister,” Lilly returned.

Astoria stepped into the kitchen and beamed at the kids, “Look at you guys!”

Andrea and Alastor both jumped up to hug her. Teddy grinned, “Did you bring me a present Aunt Tori?”

“I did!” Astoria said. She opened up her handbag and pulled out two fluffy sloth-like creatures, “For you, my little cuties!”

Alastor said thank you, and Andrea grinned.

“And for you, my little explorer,” Astoria said, pulling out a large book about magical insects.

“Wow, thanks!” Teddy said eagerly.

Astoria turned to look at Daphne. The blonde woman raised an eyebrow at her sister, “Did you buy anything for the niece that you have yet to meet?”

“Of course I did,” Astoria scoffed, “But can I just say, I will _never_ refer to her by her full name. Where is Thea?”

“Upstairs, sleeping,” Lilly replied.

Astoria leant against the kitchen counter, “Whose idea was it to move the manor to the Lake District then? Did you coax her into it?”

Lilly raised an eyebrow at Daphne, “Did I coax you into it?”

“No, I believe I suggested it because I wanted to be closer to you,” Daphne remarked matter of factly.

“Darling, you would never be satisfied with a conventional relationship. Would you?”

Daphne held up one finger behind her back, and Lilly bit back an amused grin.

“So how is everyone?” Astoria asked cheerfully.

“Have you opened a newspaper in two months?” Daphne asked in disbelief.

“More to the point, does your husband tell you anything?”

“Darling, all my husband tells me is stories about the dragons,” Astoria returned.

Lilly held up two fingers behind her back.

“So he didn’t mention that Theo was actually alive and that he and Draco had a crazy half-sister?” Daphne remarked.

“It didn’t hit the global newspapers when she started to wipe out the Wizengamot?” Lilly added.

“Of course that did, but none of the families we like were affected,” Astoria said offhandedly.

“Merlin, you are such a politician these days,” Daphne muttered, “And for the record, Father and Narcissa were targeted, had Harry and Draco not caught her, they would have been Lucia’s victims.”

“Nice of you, Narcissa or Father to inform me of that,” Astoria said coolly, but Daphne saw the hurt that flashed in her sister's eyes.

Daphne sighed, “Either way, Lucia killed herself. Neville is Chief Warlock, and he is revolutionising the Wizengamot. Oh and Draco and Theo started snogging then bought a castle together.”

“I was only gone for two months!” Astoria remarked.

“It was a hectic two months,” Lilly muttered.

Astoria raised an eyebrow, “Oh, like baby hectic? Are you having a baby?”

“How do you do that?” Daphne asked in disbelief, “Do you have a baby radar? You could tell I was pregnant both times before anyone else could!”

Astoria smiled at Lilly, “You just have that look about you. Congratulations, darling!”

Daphne shot Lilly an amused look and mouthed, “Three.”

“That was why we moved closer,” Daphne confessed.

“I’m having twins,” Lilly explained.

“And Neville is in a tight spot. He’s out of the wheelchair now, but he might well need a cane for the rest of his life,” Daphne said, “In the raid that they went on to save Theo, he was badly injured. He should have been paralysed, but Harry performed a medical miracle and made sure that he wasn’t.”

Astoria rolled her eyes, “Honestly, as if marrying the chosen one – the next best thing since Merlin – wasn’t good enough for you. You decide to have a girlfriend on the side?”

Lilly made a face, “I’m not her girlfriend.”

“You kind of are though,” Daphne whispered.

“I’m really not.”

Daphne and Astoria made the same ‘are you sure about that?’ face.

“And that’s just weird,” Lilly added, looking between the two women.

“That is denial if ever I heard it, darling,” Astoria remarked.

Lilly held up four fingers behind her back.

“Whatever,” Lilly muttered.

“Speaking of babies,” Daphne cut in, “Are you and Charlie ever planning on having them? You know, actual human babies? Or is he happy with the dragons while you live this high flying life?”

“I don’t know if I’m honest,” Astoria answered.

“And how does Charlie feel about that,” Daphne asked.

“He is fine with it, obviously darling,” Astoria said.

Before Daphne could hold up five fingers, Astoria added, “And that’s five by the way. Do you honestly think that I don’t know what you’re doing?”

“You’re too perceptive,” Daphne snorted.

A cry sounded from upstairs, and Lilly said, “I’ll get her.”

Daphne braced herself for the inevitable onslaught. The moment Lilly left the room, Astoria said, “Are you sleeping with her?”

“What’s it to you if I am?” Daphne remarked.

“Does Harry know?”

“Harry and Neville know about everything that goes on between Lilly and I, and if they don’t judge, I don’t think you have a right to,” Daphne said calmly, “And no, I am not sleeping with her.”

“Why do I have the feeling that sentence should have ended with ‘at the moment’, Daphne?” Astoria asked.

Daphne just smiled, “How long are you back in the country for?”

“The foreseeable future,” Astoria confessed, “Charlie admitted that it was beginning to take its toll. He needs to stay here for the dragons, and we have barely seen each other this year. It’s time to take a break and focus on things in Britain for a while.”

“Well, that’s handy,” Daphne said with a smile.

“Why?” Astoria asked curiously.

“Because Bill and I have a business proposal to put to you,” Daphne replied.

“Well my schedule is full, but I can fit you in at the end of the day on Friday,” Astoria said smoothly, “You had better have an ironclad plan if you want anything from me. You know I won’t give you handouts just because you’re my sister.”

“I know. Getting you to fund anything is like trying to squeeze blood from a stone,” Daphne muttered. She poured out two glasses of wine and handed one to Astoria.

“You’re drinking?” Astoria asked, sipping her wine.

“Uh-huh,” Daphne replied.

“So you aren’t breastfeeding Thea?”

“I was,” Daphne admitted, “But she was impossible. I felt like she was attached to me all night and with everything that was going on with Harry and Neville…I just couldn’t do it. I was too exhausted to get through the day, so I put her on formula.”

“You don’t have to justify it to me, honey,” Astoria said honestly.

“I know,” Daphne sighed, “But I wanted to breastfeed her like I did with Andie, so I feel a bit like a failure right now.”

“Oh Daph, you are anything but!” Astoria remarked, “Look at you! You’re 25, and you have four kids. You still look stunning, and all of those kids love you to bits. You are doing a great job.”

Daphne leant back and looked over at the kids fondly.

“When do you think you’re going to grow out of this phase with Lilly?” Astoria asked curiously.

Daphne sighed, “It’s not a phase, Astoria. There’s a reason I wanted to move the house to be closer to her. She’s more than my best friend, I love her, and I need her in my life. Harry and Neville are like brothers, and we all feel happier when we’re closer.”

Astoria watched her sister with interest.

Daphne looked Astoria in the eye, “We’re one big family, just like the others. That isn’t going to change, so get used to it, please.”

“Okay,” Astoria said simply.

Daphne nodded.

Astoria bit her lip, “Can I tell you a secret?”

Daphne looked up at her sister, “Yes.”

“I came back here to talk to Charlie about divorce,” Astoria confessed.

“What?” Daphne barked.

“Yeah, things aren’t working,” Astoria said quietly, “I hate to admit it, but the age gap is just too big. We’re at different points in our lives. He wants to slow down and settle down, and I feel like I’m just getting started.”

“We all told you this when you first got together,” Daphne reminded her.

“I know, which is why I hate to admit defeat and say that you were right, but you were,” Astoria sighed, “I fell in love with America, Daphne and I love travelling. I just feel like Charlie ties me down.”

“So you want a divorce for entirely selfish reasons?” Daphne asked.

“It’s not selfish to put yourself first when you’re young,” Lilly argued as she re-entered the kitchen through the secret passageway at the back of the room.

Astoria looked up, “You’re on my side?”

“If you aren’t committed then you aren’t committed,” Lilly said with a shrug, “It would be kinder to tell Charlie that now and let him get on with his life than it would be to lead him on for another few years.”

Daphne sighed, “Are you sure this is what you want?”

“I’ve been thinking about it for months, Daph,” Astoria admitted, “But the minute I try and talk to him, I know he will just try to convince me to stay.”

“Of course he will,” Daphne said softly, “He loves you, Astoria, he doesn’t want to lose you.”

“We’re like ships passing in the night right now, Daph,” Astoria shrugged, “I don’t think he will be surprised.”

Lilly smiled sadly, “Well here’s something to cheer you up. This is Thea.”

“She is so cute,” Astoria said with a broad smile, “She’s going to be your double, Daphne.”

“So everyone says,” Daphne said. She smiled as Astoria took Thea for a cuddle and the conversation about her and Charlie’s relationship came to an end.

* * *

“Okay,” Daphne said eagerly, “I think we’re ready to go.”

Harry looked up at the Manor, “The kids are with your dad and Narcissa. The snakes are all bagged and boxed up ready for transport and Neville and Lilly are here so we don’t accidentally crush them if the house lands in the wrong place.”

“I’m so _not_ becoming the next wicked witch of the east,” Lilly agreed from behind Harry and Daphne.

Bill chuckled, “Alright then. Let’s do this on the count of three.”

“One…two…three…”

There was a flash of light and an almighty rumble. They all shut their eyes to shield them from the bright light, and when they opened them, there was a deep hole in the ground where the basement and foundations of Potter Manor had just been.

“Let’s move the snake cabin now,” Bill said.

Daphne cast a spell, and this time there was only a soft rumble as the snake cabin portkeyed off to its new home.

“Alright, let’s head to the Lake District and make sure the house landed where it was supposed to,” Bill said.

Daphne shot Harry a slightly nervous look, and they all spun on their heels and apparated to the point where the gates would be installed.

Harry grinned, Potter Manor was sitting straight ahead, entirely in the deep hole that had been dug out for the foundations and basement to sit in.

“Flawless guys,” Neville remarked.

“Of course it was,” Bill said smugly, “They don’t call us the best curse breakers in Britain for nothing.”

“Speaking of which,” Daphne said, “We have a meeting with Astoria at 5 pm on Friday so put on your best robes and let me do the talking.”

Harry snorted and turned away from the house to look at the woodland, “You might be the best curse breakers in Britain, but you did get one thing wrong.”

Daphne frowned, “What?”

Harry shot his wife an amused grin, “Weren’t the Manors meant to be back to back?”

Daphne’s eyes widened.

Neville laughed, “Yes, so the back garden of Potter Manor should have looked out towards the back of Longbottom House.”

“But we’re in the front garden of Potter Manor and Longbottom House is behind us,” Harry added.

“Shit,” Daphne cursed.

“Ah well, it’s not the end of the world,” Neville shrugged, “Makes a bit more sense actually, doesn’t it? You come out the front gate, and you can take the car down this gravel road to the main road, or you can walk straight into the woods and end up in our back garden.”

Lilly nodded, “Nev’s right; it doesn’t really make a difference.”

“Gives us more space in the back garden for the Quidditch pitch and the snakes too,” Harry added.

“But we’re not going to let you live it down,” Lilly said with a grin.

“The best curse breakers in Britain don’t know their back to their front,” Neville agreed with an amused smile.

“Oh shut up you two.”

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	31. I've Still Got a Lot of Fight Left in Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title comes from the song:
> 
> Fight Song by Rachel Platten.

Theo felt incredibly uncomfortable. He was sitting in Caroline’s office back at the Auror training centre, and she was watching him with her quill resting against her notepad.

“You seem anxious,” Caroline said softly, “Does the idea of therapy scare you?”

Theo couldn’t look at her, “I find it difficult to talk about my feelings.”

“Most men do,” Caroline confessed, “And Aurors are amongst the worst when it comes to bottling up their feelings.”

“I’m not an Auror anymore,” Theo reminded her.

“That doesn’t mean that your mindset has changed though, does it?”

Theo frowned, _damn she’s good at this,_ he thought to himself.

“Do you want to start by telling me what is triggering this anxiety?” Caroline asked calmly.

Theo shook his head, “I can’t.”

Caroline raised an eyebrow at him, “Do you feel uncomfortable because I’m the one conducting your meetings?”

Theo’s frown deepened.

“You think that because my dad died on the mission that saved you, that I hate you. Is that it?” Caroline asked him.

“Don’t you?” Theo asked quietly.

Caroline shook her head, “Of course not. My father died, and that was a difficult thing to deal with, but he went out the way that he would have wanted.”

Theo looked up at her.

Caroline smiled sadly, “When I was a little girl, I used to kiss him on the nose every morning before he left for work. It was our good luck charm, and when I got older, I realised that I could never imagine a world in which my dad was not an Auror. He was made for the job, and I always knew, from a very early age that he would never live long enough to die of disease or old age. He would die with his boots on, he knew it, and I knew it.”

Theo swallowed and looked down.

“It was just who he was,” Caroline said softly, “The man who ran into the fire so that others didn’t have to. He would have done it for any of you and given a chance for a do-over, he would have done it even knowing the consequences.”

“He was one of the bravest people I have ever had the honour of knowing,” Theo said quietly.

“He _was_ the bravest person I have ever known,” Caroline said, “He was my dad, and he was my hero. But it is not your fault that he is gone. Yes, he died in the mission that got you out so please, Theo, do not let his death be a waste.”

Theo steeled himself and nodded.

“I think the best way to knock some sense into you is probably to give you some facts,” Caroline confessed. She pulled a folder out of her bag and opened it up, “So this is everything we know from studies of people who have survived the nightmare curse. Now, nobody in recorded history has survived past 48 hours so all of these statistics are as close as we can get to your situation.”

“I’m the first person to survive longer than 48 hours?” Theo asked in surprise.

Caroline nodded, “And those who survived the initial onslaught, did not often live long, happy, fulfilled lives.”

Theo frowned at her.

“25% of survivors committed suicide within six months,” Caroline stated, “A further 25% committed suicide within a year.”

Theo’s hands shook.

“25% of the survivors ended up in the mental health ward of their local hospital permanently,” Caroline continued, “And of the 25% who survived, a further 10% killed themselves later in life, and 5% became addicted to drugs, alcohol or pain potions.”

“So 10%,” Theo said, looking up at Caroline, “That’s the percentage of people who didn’t kill themselves or royally fuck up their life?”

Caroline nodded, “10%.”

Theo sighed.

“And do you know how that 10% survived?” Caroline asked.

“I swear if you say, ‘because they went to therapy like good boys’, I’ll lose my shit,” Theo joked.

Caroline shook her head, “No, Theo. They got to the root of their issues and stopped the nightmare world from influencing the real world. Everything that happened to you there happened because fears, deep-rooted issues, were in your head. That curse played on them, so just because you are home now, it does not mean that those issues are gone.”

Theo nodded.

“Getting to the root of those issues is how we stop them from manifesting themselves in the real world,” Caroline said with a smile, “Which means talking, a lot of talking, about things you may never have talked about and probably don’t want to talk about it.”

“I get it,” Theo said honestly, “It’s not going to be fun, and it’s not going to be easy. That’s what you’re saying, isn’t it?”

“In essence, yes,” Caroline agreed, “Do you know who the first recorded victim of a nightmare curse was?”

Theo shook his head.

“Salazar Slytherin,” Caroline replied.

“Seriously?” Theo asked in surprise, “Is that why he lost his shit and left Hogwarts?”

Caroline laughed, “That would be a different way of telling the story of the founders, don’t you think? _Gryffindor. Hufflepuff. Ravenclaw. Slytherin. Long ago, the four houses lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when Salazar Slytherin lost his shit_."

Theo grinned, “I’d be a great History of Magic teacher.”

Caroline chuckled, “I very much doubt that, but yes, that was why Salazar left Hogwarts. He was cursed, and it seems he was pulled out of the curse by Godric Gryffindor. All records state that they were best friends, as close as brothers.”

“But Salazar fancied his best friends wife which put him in a tough spot,” Theo finished.

Caroline fixed Theo with an exasperated look, “Nobody knows what Salazar saw, but when he woke up, he was never the same again. That was when the tension between him and the other founders began, and shortly after, he left Hogwarts for good.”

“Well I’m not going to fall out with the other members of my foursome, don’t worry,” Theo said, “We got over all of our issues and bought a castle together.”

“I very much doubt you are over your issues entirely,” Caroline said matter of factly, “So begin with telling me what happened in the nightmare world.”

Theo took a sip of water, “I was married to Sadie. I had two kids. Exactly like I do in the real world, they were even called Almina and Charlus. The big difference was that Sadie was having an affair with Draco.”

“Your best friend?”

Theo nodded, “She had his baby and then told me about the affair. I lost my temper and threw her against the basement door. It opened, she fell down the stairs and broke her neck.”

“So you’re insecure about your relationship?” Caroline asked.

“No, I mean, I didn’t think that I was,” Theo admitted, “But Sadie kissed Draco at my wake. I found out from one of our friends when I woke up, and I did struggle to accept that at first.”

“But now?”

“Now…” Theo frowned, “Well, now I can see that it’s never been Sadie that Draco had feelings for.”

“Who was it then?” Caroline asked.

“Me,” Theo admitted.

Caroline leant back in her chair, “And do you return these feelings? Or do you hold some deep-rooted grudge which manifested in your nightmare world?”

“There’s no grudge,” Theo said instantly, “I have always thought that Draco was better than me. I thought he was stronger, better looking, smarter, for a long time. When we became Aurors, I always felt like the sidekick, but I could never say that there was a grudge. I guess…he’s always been there. From the moment I could walk, this little blonde kid was toddling along next to me and I never really acknowledged it for what it was.”

Caroline said nothing; she just let him talk it out.

“After seeing him like that in the nightmare world, I _was_ paranoid,” Theo confessed, “I thought maybe there was a chance he could turn out like his father. It was stupid because he was trying to help me through, and I was shunning him for something that he hadn’t even done.”

“But you resolved the issue?” Caroline guessed.

“I went round to his house to tell him I couldn’t be around him anymore because it was just too difficult,” Theo said, “And there was an…incident…you know, some things were said that should have been said years ago, and we both acknowledged that we were more than friends and had been for a while.”

Caroline nodded.

“And luckily, because we’ve always been somewhat of a foursome, our wives weren’t even surprised about that, let alone annoyed about it,” Theo finished, “So I do feel like I’ve worked through the issue regarding Draco.”

“I’m not convinced you’ve worked through your insecurity about your relationship with Sadie, though,” Caroline pointed out.

“I don’t think I have either,” Theo confessed, “And that is a deep-rooted issue. From the moment I started dating Sadie, I’ve never felt good enough for her.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I acted like an idiot for years,” Theo answered as he ran his hands through his hair, “And to this day, I still don’t know why she would have wanted to be with me after that. I…like I said, I was insecure when I was younger, so I channelled that into sex. When I was in my sixth year, I just…I slept with a lot of people, and I hurt people. Sadie was my friend through all of that, and she had to put up with me coming back from rendezvous’ in broom cupboards with people who meant nothing to me, and I couldn’t…”

Theo sighed, “I think she always wondered what was wrong with her. I would flirt with Daphne even though she was my cousin, and I slept with Tracey, who was one of Sadie’s best friends, but I was never intimate with Sadie.”

“What was the reason for that?” Caroline asked.

“I couldn’t have sex with her because she was the one girl other than Pansy that I felt something more around,” Theo admitted, “And Pansy was just complicated because she was Draco’s girlfriend and we thought he was dead when we slept together, but he wasn’t.”

“And you and Draco got past that?” Caroline asked.

Theo nodded, “It took over a year, but eventually, we did.”

“Did you feel the same way about Pansy that you do about Sadie?” Caroline queried.

“No, I thought I did until Sadie and I started dating. Even then, the thought of a committed relationship terrified me. I didn’t think I would ever be in a committed relationship because I just didn’t believe in love after the way I was raised,” Theo answered quietly.

Caroline nodded, “Your father killed your mother in front of you when you were a child then you were raised by him and his house-elves until he remarried when you were…” she looked down at her file, “… ten. Is that right?”

Theo nodded, “Yeah, and he was a cruel man. You did what he said, or you suffered the consequences. As a kid, I didn’t fight back. Not after the first couple of times that he locked me in the basement where my mother died.”

He paused and took a steadying breath, “I just did what he asked and tried to keep my head down, but as I got older, I started to rebel, and he punished me for it. When I went to Hogwarts, I started developing my own opinions, and I realised how wrong his were. Does that make sense?”

“Entirely,” Caroline answered, “So, you idolise your mother and despise your father. You think that your father was a monster and that your mother was so much better than him. Do you feel that you are anything like your father?”

Theo frowned, “I don’t want to be. I’ve spent my entire life trying not to be like him, but I have his temper, and I struggle to keep that in check sometimes.”

“Would you say that Sadie reminds you of your mother?” Caroline asked curiously.

Theo smiled sadly, “Yes. She’s so patient and calm; she just knows what to say when it feels like the world is ending, you know?”

Caroline smiled too, “I think that is the root of your issue. You see your parents in your relationship with your wife, and you are terrified of history repeating itself.”

Theo stiffened up at those words.

“Why did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Stiffen up when I said that you were scared of history repeating itself?”

“Because that was what my whole nightmare world was based on,” Theo said with a sigh, “My family history repeating itself.”

“How so?” Caroline asked.

“My daughter, Almina, she was a squib,” Theo said quietly, “I cast her out but couldn’t kill her, so she was taken away to a muggle orphanage. That was what happened to my Aunt Elizabeth. My grandfather cast her out, and Draco’s grandmother saved her. She grew up in the muggle world and had a child. That child was christened Hermione Granger, and she grew up to marry my best friend.”

Caroline smiled, “Would you say that’s chance or fate?”

“Fate, definitely,” Theo said with a nod, “It has to be.”

“Would you cast your child out if they were a squib?”

“Never,” Theo said sharply, “I love Mina and Charlie so much. I never thought the level of love that I feel for them was possible. I would do anything for them, and I could never cast them out. I don’t care if they turn out to be squibs or if they marry blood traitors or muggles, I don’t care if they are gay or straight. I just love them unconditionally and I always will.”

“So that fear is unfounded,” Caroline said, “You know that it will not happen.”

“Just like I know I’ll never let Charlus grow up to hate me,” Theo said with a firm nod, “In my nightmare world, Charlie hated me the same way that I hated my father growing up. But I’ll never let that happen.”

Caroline smiled, “So, I think the main issue that needs to be addressed here is your relationship with Sadie. Make sure you bring her along to our next session, and we can do a bit of couples therapy on the issue.”

“Great,” Theo said sarcastically.

Caroline ignored the comment, “Have you been relying on alcohol at all recently?”

Theo shook his head.

“Potions? For pain? Or to help you sleep?”

“I’ve tried taking sleeping draughts, but they don’t work,” Theo admitted, “I still have the nightmare.”

“Is it the same one every night?”

Theo nodded, “Sometimes more than once a night.”

“What happens in that nightmare?” Caroline asked.

“I grab Sadie by the neck and pin her against the basement door then she falls down the stairs and breaks her neck,” Theo replied quietly, “The first time I had it, I woke up with my arms around Sadie’s neck and scared the hell out of both of us. Since then, it’s gotten better, but I do still lash out when I wake up sometimes.”

“We’ll talk about that in more detail with Sadie then,” Caroline promised, “We need to make sure that you are both over that incident.”

“Alright,” Theo said with a heavy sigh, “Thanks for having the patience to work through this with me, Caroline. I know it can’t be easy right now…”

“It’s fine, Theo,” Caroline promised, “I’ll see you tomorrow for your next session.”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow,” Theo agreed.

* * *

“Hey babe, how was your day?” Harry asked, kissing Daphne on the cheek and picking Andrea up, “Hey honey!”

“It was good,” Daphne said, “I went to Blacknot Castle so the kids could have a playdate.”

“Yeah?” Harry asked, ruffling Alastors hair, “Hey, little man!”

“Hey, Daddy!”

Harry beamed at him and turned to Daphne, “Is it nice?”

“It is _stunning._ I won’t lie, I am a little jealous,” Daphne said with an amused smile, “I got all of the gossip from Hermione too, by the way.”

“What gossip’s that?” Harry asked.

“Well, do you know that everything is sorted between Theo and Draco now?” Daphne asked.

“Yeah, well I figured it was since they moved to the castle together,” Harry replied.

“Yes, but do you know _how_ they got everything sorted?” Daphne asked pointedly.

“Uh, yeah,” Harry admitted sheepishly, “The making out thing?”

“How do you know about that?” Daphne asked in surprise.

“Draco told me a few days ago,” Harry confessed.

“What do you mean, Draco told you a few days ago? And you never told me?” Daphne asked in disbelief.

“Well it’s against the Auror code,” Harry said calmly, “And Draco didn’t actually tell me, come to think of it. I guessed, he denied it very quickly, said ‘fuck off Potter’ and apparated away, so I was pretty sure that I had guessed right.”

“Well I got all of the gossip from Sadie and Hermione today,” Daphne said with a grin.

“Oh come on then, tell me,” Harry said eagerly.

“Why should I tell you? You’ve known for a couple of days, and you didn’t say anything,” Daphne pointed out, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Auror code, Daphne!” Harry said, “It was a sensitive subject; I was being a good partner and keeping it to myself.”

Daphne crossed her arms and looked at him in amusement.

Harry shot her a grin, “I can tell that you want to tell me, so go on.”

“Theo showed up at the door in the middle of that thunderstorm,” Daphne said with a roll of her eyes, “They had a dramatic near break-up in the middle of the street then Draco kissed Theo, twice.”

Harry raised an eyebrow.

“Then Theo kissed Draco, and when Sadie and Hermione found them, Theo had him up against the wall,” Daphne finished.

Harry shook his head in disbelief, “Reckon Neville will buy me a castle if I snog him?”

At that point, Neville and Lilly stepped into the kitchen.

“What the hell did I just hear?”

“Language, Lillian.”

“Shut up, Daphne.”

“Did I mention that they were having dinner here tonight?” Daphne asked.

“Nope. Try not to throw it up the second you eat it this time though Lil,” Harry said with a grin.

Lilly rolled her eyes, and Daphne called, “Hey Nev, is the Auror code of conduct actually a thing?”

“Yeah, it’s a thing,” Neville said. He shot Harry an amused grin, “So now that Harry’s not my Auror partner; I can spill all of his secrets.”

Daphne scoffed, “I think I already know all of his secrets. Like that time he tried to shag my best friend.”

“I didn’t try to shag her!” Harry exclaimed, “And Neville was _right there_! He didn’t get jealous; he was laughing at me!”

“You got attacked by sex spores, what did you expect me to do?” Neville sniggered.

“Not let him jump your wife?” Lilly retorted.

“The look on your face when he kissed you was priceless though,” Neville grinned.

“You are the worst Auror partner ever,” Harry muttered.

“Oh come on, you miss me really.”

“No, I don’t, Draco brings me coffee,” Harry joked.

Neville snorted, “Anyway, why were you talking about snogging me?”

“If I snogged you, would you buy me a castle?” Harry asked.

“Uh…no,” Neville frowned, “I’d check if you were drunk then punch you.”

Harry nodded, “Guess we must have a very different dynamic to Draco and Theo then.”

“Wait…what?” Lilly asked in disbelief, “That’s why Draco bought him a castle?”

“No, that’s not why,” Daphne said with a roll of her eyes, “All of the tension between Draco and Theo was resolved when they _finally_ admitted that they had feelings for each other and snogged in the middle of the thunderstorm. Now that the world has been put to right, they have decided that they might as well all live in one castle rather than two houses with an adjoining door.”

“Right,” Neville said, “Still, I’m not buying you a castle.”

“I don’t want a castle,” Harry said honestly, “I love this place. I love the history, you know?”

Neville nodded his agreement, “I feel the same about Longbottom House.”

“Wouldn’t it be funny if you became the Headmaster of Hogwarts at some point though, babe?” Daphne asked her husband, “You could send flares to them from the study of the Headmasters office and show off because your castle was bigger than theirs.”

“As if I’d do that,” Harry scoffed, “I’d be a responsible, respected Headmaster.”

Lilly laughed out loud, “That’s funny.”

* * *

Charlie was singing along to the radio and boiling the kettle to mix up some formula for a baby dragon that he was caring for when the front door clicked open.

He frowned and stepped into the entrance hall of the ridiculously big house that they had bought when they got married. Charlie hated the place; it always felt cold, nothing like the warm, homely feel that The Burrow had all of the time.

“Astoria,” Charlie frowned.

Astoria smiled, “I’m home early, surprise!”

Charlie’s frown deepened, “You shouldn’t have been home for another two weeks. What’s going on?”

“Can’t I just come home because I miss my husband?” Astoria asked.

“If you had done it once in the past year then I would have said yes,” Charlie replied. It wasn’t bitter; he didn’t sound angry. If anything, he just seemed resigned.

“The world has gone crazy, Charlie,” Astoria said, putting her bag down by the door and clicking her fingers.

An elf appeared, and Astoria ordered it to unpack for her. Charlie bit his tongue and looked away so that she wouldn’t see him rolling his eyes.

“What was that for?”

“What?”

“She’s an elf; it’s her job!”

“Yes, but you used to call them all by their names and ask them,” Charlie snapped, “Then you got too big for your boots. Now you just click your fingers and order them around like they are worthless.”

“I don’t hurt them, Charlie,” Astoria snapped, “You’re making out like I’m some horrific pureblood.”

“No, you’re not horrific,” Charlie said, “But you are a pureblood and to begin with, that was okay but now? I mean, look at you. You’re not the girl I married.”

“And you _are_ the man I married; you haven’t changed at all.”

“Why is that a bad thing?” Charlie asked in disbelief.

“Because one day you need to grow up,” Astoria said. She walked towards him and the sound of her heels clicking against the marble floor echoed around the large hall.

“Like you did, you mean?” Charlie asked irritably, “You grew up into this big hotshot CEO who only cares about her company. The world _was_ falling apart, and you weren’t here!”

“Because you didn’t tell me anything!” Astoria snapped, “You didn’t tell me that Theo was alive! You didn’t tell me that Neville was almost paralysed. I got a Patronus from Harry to tell me that my niece had been born and I had a few scattered floo calls from you while Draco and Theo’s half-sister was trying her best to wipe out the bloody Wizengamot! You didn’t contact me, my father didn’t contact me, and I barely heard from Daphne!”

“Because you’re never here!” Charlie yelled. He turned around and looked her in the face, “Nobody thinks about contacting you because you are _never_ here. You don’t come to family dinners or events because you have an important meeting or gala that you can’t miss. Lilly helps Daphne raise those kids, they call her Aunt Lilly, and Aunt Astoria is just the rich one who brings them presents! Your father barely hears from you, and you never make an effort to visit him, you haven’t done ever since he married Narcissa. You pushed them all away Astoria.”

Astoria stared at Charlie for a long moment, “You included?”

“Yeah, me included,” Charlie muttered in response.

Astoria sighed and reached into her handbag. When she looked up, she saw that Charlie had a brown folder in his hands.

“Are those…”

“Divorce papers,” Charlie said, “I had them drawn up a couple of weeks ago. I was planning on having a conversation with you about it when you came home.”

“I came home early to give you these,” Astoria confessed.

“Well,” Charlie said dryly, “That makes this easier then, doesn’t it?”

“We will still need to consolidate our papers to make sure that we agree on terms-” Astoria began.

Charlie laughed humourlessly and threw the brown folder onto the hall table, “Could you not be so cold? This wasn’t a business agreement that has gone sour and is coming to an end. It was a marriage, it was _our_ marriage and ending it shouldn’t be like terminating a bloody contract!”

Astoria swallowed, “I just meant that we would both need to make sure that we agree before we file the papers.”

“I don’t have terms, Astoria,” Charlie said, “You should know me better than that. I married you because I love you, not because I want money out of you. All I want is the dragons. You can have everything else.”

“Don’t be so stupid, Charlie,” Astoria said. She sat down on the marble steps.

“I don’t care about money.”

“I know you don’t,” Astoria admitted, “But if you’re going to take the dragons then you need money to buy a new house with enough land for them. We’ll sell the house and split the money 50/50.”

Charlie said nothing.

“And you worked hard for the business, you should see the benefits of that,” Astoria added, “I do think it would be better if you didn’t work for me anymore, but I will ensure that you remain a shareholder and there is a substantial amount of money in the joint account which is rightfully yours.”

Charlie caught her eye and was surprised to see tears shining there.

“Because you’re right, this wasn’t a business deal,” Astoria said softly, “It was a marriage, and for a little while, it was a great one.”

Charlie swallowed and looked away from her.

“But nothing good lasts forever,” Astoria finished.

“I’ll ask the elves to send my things over to Bill and Lara’s place,” Charlie said, “And I’ll be around and about in the grounds tomorrow moving the dragons over there.”

“You don’t have to run out like that,” Astoria said, “You could stay until you find somewhere new.”

“If I stay, I’ll sleep with you,” Charlie said bluntly, “Then we’ll start wondering if we made the right decision. But I think we both know that what we’re saying now is how we really feel.”

Astoria nodded.

“So I’ll go,” Charlie said simply, “Owl me your divorce papers when they’re ready and I’ll sign them. Then you can be free of me, not that it will be difficult since you didn’t even take my name when we got married.”

“Charlie-”

“Yeah, I know why you did it,” Charlie said offhandedly. He walked to the door then turned around, “See you around, Astoria.”

“That’s how you end a marriage?” Astoria asked tearfully, “With see you around?”

Charlie shrugged, “I don’t know what else you expect me to say.”

Without another word, he left Astoria alone on the staircase.

* * *

Bill lived in a lovely house in Ottery St. Catchpole. It was a Georgian building with six bedrooms and a vast garden. Bill thought it was far too big for him, Lara and Victoire but it had been the house that Lara had fallen in love with so they had bought it.

Charlie’s favourite part of the house was the mancave at the side of the house. It was a separate building from the main house, and there was a large wooden sign hung above the door which said, “WOLF CAVE.”

It was usually where he could find Bill in the evenings, and surely enough, when Charlie walked in, he saw his brother straight away.

Bill was working on a broomstick on the ground floor of the little workshop. The upper floor was a mezzanine, and it was kitted out with a sofa bed and a TV, it was where he hid away for the full moon.

“Hey,” Charlie said with a smile, “What are you working on?”

“Ah nothing fancy, just some brooms for Lupin House,” Bill replied with an easy smile, “Harry thought it would be nice to have a few for the younger kids. He’s thinking about taking them out on Saturday mornings with a big cushioning charm on the ground, so he doesn’t want these to be able to fly very high.”

“Like the one you made Vic when she was little?” Charlie asked.

Bill nodded and put his wand down. He made brooms in his spare time because he found it relaxing. He was good enough at it to sell them and make money out of it, but he donated them to Lupin House or to CPS to give out to kids in the Closes whose parents didn’t have much money.

Charlie leant against the work surface and asked, “Would you mind having some dragons in your back garden for a few weeks?”

Bill frowned, “What do you mean?”

“I need somewhere to keep them, temporarily,” Charlie admitted, “Just until I can get a new house sorted out.”

Bill’s eyes widened, “You’re leaving Astoria then?”

“- left,” Charlie cut in.

Bill sighed, “For real? I mean I knew you weren’t happy but still…”

“I’ve left,” Charlie said with a shrug, “I was planning on having a conversation about divorce with her when she came home. Then she came home two weeks early with divorce papers for me, so that was that.”

“Shit, Char.”

Charlie shrugged, “I’ve barely seen her over the last year. It’s no surprise, really.”

“Still,” Bill said. He gripped his brother's shoulder, “I’ve been there, and regardless of how it ends, it’s a fucking shit thing to go through.”

Charlie nodded and looked away from his brother, “So are you okay with the dragons, and me, staying for a while?”

“Course I am Char,” Bill said, “Just let me break it to Lara, yeah?”

Charlie grimaced, “Yeah…good luck with that.”

“Watch it, or I’ll tell you and your dragons to get on your bike!” Bill remarked as he swept out of the workshop.

Charlie stepped outside and leant against the brick-built workshop while he lit a cigarette.

* * *

“Babe! Where are you? I need to talk to you!”

Lara stuck her head out of the study, “I’m just grading a paper! What’s up?”

Bill jogged in and smiled at her, “Hey.”

Lara narrowed her eyes at him, “Hey. What have you done?”

“I haven’t done anything,” Bill admitted, “But I do have a question to ask you.”

“Okay?”

“How would you feel about us having a few tenants for the next couple of weeks?” Bill asked, “Most of them will sleep outside, and one will sleep in the house.”

Lara sighed, “Charlie and Astoria have split up, haven’t they?”

“Yeah, she came home with divorce papers,” Bill replied. He sat down on the edge of her desk, “And the thing is, Char is my best friend, and he was there for me through my divorce with Fleur so-”

“I know, you can’t abandon him now,” Lara agreed, “And I would never ask you to. But from what you said, is he bringing the dragons too?”

“Yeah,” Bill said.

Lara observed Bill, “When you’ve gone round there in the past to help him with the dragons, you’ve always said that he had a few. How many is a few exactly?”

Bill grimaced.

* * *

“27?!”

Charlie blew out a ring of smoke. _So he’s told her about the dragons then._

He took a drag from his cigarette.

“What do you mean, only one of them is a full-grown one?”

Charlie rolled his eyes and blew out another ring of smoke. He looked up at the study window, which was slightly ajar.

“A HUNGARIAN HORNTAIL? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I’M GOING TO KILL HIM!”

Charlie snorted and waited for the back door of the house to be thrown open in one…two…three.

**BANG.**

“27 dragons?” Lara asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“They’re all pygmy dragons apart from Bambi.”

“Bambi?” Lara echoed, “You named a Hungarian Horntail Bambi?”

“Yeah cause she’s harmless. She’s an albino horntail that I rescued from your dickhead of a husbands bank. She’s blind, and she’s old, she wouldn’t hurt a fly,” Charlie replied with a shrug.

“Call me a dickhead again, and you’ll be begging Mum to let you and your dragons stay in the back garden of the Burrow,” Bill said, stepping out of the house after his wife.

“Please no,” Charlie said with a shake of his head, “I can’t deal with her disapproving glare being on me, 24/7.”

Bill smirked in response and Lara shook her head in disbelief, “I am _so_ glad that you snogged my sister and made me hate you. Merlin, imagine if I had ended up dating you?”

“I wouldn’t have wanted to date your scrawny arse either,” Charlie retorted.

Bill rolled his eyes, “Charlie, quit slagging off my wife. Lara, it’s only for a little while. I _promise_ to help Charlie with the house hunt to get him out of your hair as fast as humanly possible.”

Lara nodded.

“Just be nice to each other for the next couple of weeks, _please_ ,” Bill added.

“Yeah, fine,” Charlie replied.

Lara sighed, “Yes, we will be,” she walked back towards the house, “But you had better ward those dragon enclosures expertly before your niece gets here on Friday night, Charles Weasley!”

Charlie rolled his eyes and was surprised when Lara turned around in the doorway, “But Charlie?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry to hear about you and Astoria,” Lara said. Then she disappeared back into the house.

Charlie looked over at Bill and shook his head, “She’s hard work, man.”

“No, she just doesn’t like you very much,” Bill said with an amused smile, “But please be nice to her, or she might change her mind about having a baby with me.”

Charlie smiled at that, “You convinced her?”

“Yeah,” Bill said with a smile, “And it feels wrong for me to be happy about that while your life is going to shit.”

“Ah well, I was happy with Astoria when you were divorcing Fleur and thought your life was going to shit,” Charlie shrugged, “That’s life, Bill. It’s all swings and roundabouts.”

“Yeah Char,” Bill agreed, putting an arm around his brother, “You want a beer?”

“Yeah,” Charlie sighed, “Yeah, I really do.”

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	32. The House Don't Fall When the Bones Are Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title comes from the song:
> 
> The Bones by Maren Morris.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have now caught up to everything I had written so from here on out updates are going to be a lot less frequent as and when I get writers block or don't have time to write etc. Apologies in advance!

“Hey, Caroline,” Theo said. His smile was a little more natural when he sat down in her office for the second time, “This is my wife, Sadie.”

Sadie smiled and held out her hand, “Nice to meet you, Caroline.”

“And you,” Caroline said. She shook Sadie’s hand and leant back in her chair to survey the couple, “The reason I asked you to attend this session with your husband is because he has some deep-rooted insecurities when it comes to your relationship.”

Sadie rolled her eyes, “I know. You would think after six years of marriage and two children, he would be over that.”

Theo smiled weakly.

“Why do you think he’s insecure about your relationship?” Caroline asked.

“He seems to think that I’ll leave him for the next decent guy who comes along,” Sadie confessed, “He never thinks that he is good enough for me which is bizarre because I’m the one who failed him.”

“How did you fail me?” Theo asked with a frown.

Sadie sighed, “I kissed Draco at your wake. That was on me, not Draco or anyone else.”

“It’s understandable though Sadie,” Theo said, “As annoyed as I was at first, it’s what anyone would do. After Draco and I … talked … the night of the thunderstorm-”

“Talked?” Sadie quipped.

“You know what I mean,” Theo said quickly, “When he told me that he loved me, it made sense. You both loved me; you were bonding over how much you loved me. Why that made you kiss him, I don’t bloody know but _how_ it happened makes sense at least.”

“Well, at least it makes sense to one of us,” Sadie said.

Caroline smiled, “You two seem comfortable talking about your issues. Do you share burdens often?”

“I wouldn’t say we have a problem with communication,” Sadie admitted, “Even when he doesn’t like to talk about something, I do get it out of him eventually.”

Theo nodded in agreement.

“When you said that you had failed Theo earlier on, Sadie,” Caroline said, “Was that just because you kissed Draco or is there more to that?”

Sadie sighed, “I…I had some problems when I gave birth to our twins. I almost died, and I had to have my uterus removed so I can’t have any more children and Theo wants more.”

“Sadie-”

“You do, Theo,” Sadie cut in a little tearfully, “I know you do. You say you’re happy with what we have but if you could have more, you would.”

Theo didn’t deny it.

“So I suppose I feel like a failure because I can’t give you that,” Sadie said quietly, “And…even if I could…I don’t know if I would want to.”

“Is that why you don’t want to adopt?” Theo asked, reaching out and taking her hand.

Sadie nodded, “Part of me would love another baby, and another part of me is terrified. The logical part of my brain tells me that as a 25-year-old woman, I would be a much better mother now than I was to the twins when I was a 19-year-old girl but….I had postnatal depression, I failed them, and I don’t want to fail another baby like that.”

Theo shook his head and held her hand, “No, baby. You did not fail them. All you need to do is take one look at them to see that you did not fail them. Almina is crazy smart; all of her teachers say that she’s top of the class. I bet you she’s going to be a Ravenclaw when she goes to Hogwarts, and that is on you. That’s because of all the time you took to sit and read her stories. It was you who taught her how to write and how to spell her name while I was off chasing after bad guys with Draco. I came in and had fun with them, but you taught them.”

Sadie smiled tearfully.

“And then take Charlie,” Theo continued, “He’s so kind, and he gets that from you. The compassion he shows every single animal that he comes across is on you. That’s because of the hours you spent out in the greenhouse with him when Almina was more interested in helping me polish my broom or change the oil on the motorbike.”

Sadie laughed at that, and Theo smiled warmly at her, “You are a brilliant mother, and you did not fail them.”

Caroline smiled and said, “I have to side with your husband on that one, _but_ being torn over the size of your family is a common issue for couples.”

“I would love more kids,” Theo confessed to Sadie, “But I love you and the two kids we have more than _anything_. If you are done, if you don’t want to adopt, I’m okay with that.”

“Thank you,” Sadie said, shuffling closer to him on the sofa.

Theo put his arm around his wife, and Caroline smiled, “My honest assessment having seen you two together is that you are going to be just fine. But we do need to discuss these night terrors if we are going to find a way to stop them.”

Theo nodded.

“Do you know why they centre around you killing your wife?” Caroline asked.

“It’s my worst fear,” Theo confessed, “It’s what I see when there is a boggart. It’s what I hear when Dementors are near – Sadie’s screams.”

Sadie squeezed Theo’s hand.

“I am terrified of becoming my father,” Theo finished, “And hurting Sadie like he hurt my mother.”

“Okay,” Caroline said, “And when he wakes up from these nightmares, are his eyes unfocused?”

Sadie frowned, “I uh…I don’t know. I’ve only seen him wake up from it once and I was so scared that I didn’t pay enough attention.”

Caroline frowned too, “But you said you have these nightmares every night, Theo?”

“I do,” Theo said, “But Sadie and I don’t…”

“We don’t sleep together,” Sadie cut in, “He sleeps with Draco.”

“At the moment,” Theo added, “You make that sound like a permanent thing.”

“Sorry,” Sadie said sheepishly. She turned to Caroline, “After Theo had that first nightmare when he tried to hurt me, he stopped sleeping in the same room as me. Now that we are renovating the castle, I stay in the newer section with Hermione and the children. Theo stays up late finishing sections of the older castle with Draco, so they sleep together.”

“At the moment,” Theo added.

Caroline smiled slightly, “Okay. In that case, Draco is going to have to come along to the next session.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously,” Caroline said, “I’ll talk to John and make sure that he understands why Draco must be excused for an hour or so on Friday afternoon.”

Theo sighed, “Are you going to tell Shep everything?”

Caroline shook her head, “I am only obliged to tell the Head Auror about a relationship that I discover in confidence if I feel it could put lives at risks. Two Aurors having a relationship is a case of that, it must be disclosed. Two Auror partners having a relationship is even worse; it’s far more dangerous for everyone involved.”

Theo frowned.

“But you are not an Auror anymore,” Caroline said, “Yes, you still work for the department, but you are a consultant. There is no reason why I would need to tell John about anything that we have discussed today. It is all completely in confidence.”

Theo nodded and managed a small smile, “Thank you, Caroline.”

Caroline smiled in response, “I’ll see you and Draco on Friday at 2 pm sharp. Okay? We’ll get to the bottom of these nightmares and hopefully help you rest a little bit easier at night time.”

“That would be great,” Theo said honestly.

Sadie got up and smiled at Caroline, “Thank you, for everything that you are doing for him, and I am so sorry for your loss.”

Caroline smiled sadly, “Thank you. It was lovely to meet you, Sadie.”

* * *

“You need to come to my next therapy session.”

“ _I_ do?” Draco’s voice called.

“Yeah, where are you?”

“Underneath the kitchen sink,” Draco’s muffled voice replied.

Theo snorted when he stepped into the kitchen and saw Draco’s feet sticking out from underneath the sink. His hair was all over the place, and he was filthy.

“You kind of suit the whole plumber look,” Theo grinned.

“Shut up and use a slowing spell when I take this valve off so that I don’t get drenched in water that’s been in these pipes for Merlin knows how long.”

“Sure.”

Draco took the valve off. Theo said, “Arresto Momentum,” and Draco got out from under the sink. He siphoned the dirty water away as it came out of the pipe in slow motion. Then he wiped his brow and turned to Theo, “Were you taking the piss?”

“About you coming to therapy with me or looking hot as a plumber?”

Draco snorted, “Both.”

“I was taking the piss with the plumber thing,” Theo chuckled, “But you do need to come to my next therapy session.”

“Do I want to know why?”

“Because you’re the one who sleeps with him,” Sadie’s voice said.

“At the moment!” Theo objected.

Draco looked around but didn’t see her, “Where are you?”

“I found another secret passageway!”

“Okay, that still doesn’t answer the question,” Theo frowned.

Sadie stepped out of the scullery, “There’s a secret passageway from the dining room to the scullery. It’s probably for the elves. I don’t know why mind you because they would just use magic to bring the food up.”

“True,” Draco said, “Did you tell Caroline that Theo and I sleep together?”

“Yes, but we explained the reasoning, and she understood,” Sadie said calmly, “But she needs to get to the bottom of Theo’s nightmares and to do that, she needs to know what sort of state he’s in when he wakes up.”

“Which Sadie doesn’t know because we don’t share a room right now,” Theo finished.

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Draco said, he wiped his brow again, “I’ll swing it with John.”

“Caroline said she would have a word with him,” Theo said.

Sadie nodded and cocked her head at Draco, “You kind of suit…this.”

Draco raised an eyebrow at Sadie, “You are not the first person to tell me that.”

“I was joking,” Theo cut in.

“Were you?” Draco and Sadie asked in unison.

“Guys – if you haven’t managed to sort out the pipes yet my dad said he would-” Hermione stopped in her tracks when she walked into the kitchen.

“What?” Draco asked, frowning at his wife.

“Uh…nothing,” Hermione replied, “It’s just the dirty, slightly wet and dishevelled plumber look is kind of good on you.”

Sadie bit her lip in amusement, “Well, that makes three of us.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “I’m not becoming a plumber. If your dad wants to tackle the shit storm that is those pipes, he can go right ahead, love.”

* * *

When Harry heard a knock on the door of the snake cabin, he thought that it was Neville.

“Come in!”

The door opened, and Harry was surprised to see Charlie step inside.

“Hey Charlie,” Harry said quietly, “Don’t talk too loud, Dave is sleeping, and he’s a bit pissy at the moment.”

“Why?” Charlie asked. He walked in slowly and sat down next to Harry on a bench chair in Dave’s section of the snake house.

“I got him a mate, but she doesn’t like him,” Harry said. He shot Charlie a grin, “After all those years of pining, he got rejected.”

“I feel your pain there mate,” Charlie said to the snake who was curled up around a tree looking positively miserable.

Harry shot him a sympathetic look, “Are things bad with Astoria?”

“Things are over with Astoria,” Charlie confessed, “The divorce papers arrived this morning. I signed them and sent them straight back to her. The sooner this is over, the better.”

Harry sighed, “I’m sorry, Charlie.”

Charlie shrugged, “It is what it is but… I mean…is something wrong with me, Harry?”

“I don’t think so,” Harry replied, “You just haven’t had much luck, have you?”

Charlie shook his head, “I thought Rory was the love of my life when we were in school, you know? Then I fucked it up and moved to Romania. I came home, we gave it another shot, and it still didn’t work. Then I met Astoria, and she was just this beautiful, ray of bright light, and after Fred’s death, she was exactly what I needed but now…”

“Sometimes, a person can be what you need at a specific point in your life,” Harry confessed, “During the war, Hermione was what I needed and vice versa, but now? We would never have worked. If we had gotten married after the war, it would never have lasted.”

Charlie sighed, “I just feel like I must be doing something wrong, you know? I couldn’t hold down a serious relationship for years, and I fucked up the two long-term ones I have had.”

“You didn’t fuck them up, Charlie,” Harry promised, “Sometimes people just grow up, and as they do, they grow apart. I think the problem might have been that you didn’t change.”

“What do you mean?” Charlie asked the younger man.

“Most of the time, people change when they are in a serious relationship,” Harry confessed, “I did. Daphne moulded me into a more aristocratic person than I ever was. I like to think that I’m a balance of who I was then and who I am now. But sometimes…sometimes I feel like a completely different person from the boy who went back to school after the war.”

Charlie frowned but listened to Harry intently.

“Most people are like rocks,” Harry continued, “They change as the sea erodes them. After a time, they are worn down. But you – you’re a diamond.”

Charlie raised an eyebrow at him, “I know you’ve got a thing going on with Neville but don’t start hitting on me,” he joked.

“I really don’t have a thing going on with Neville,” Harry said. He shot Charlie an amused smile, “Neville’s my brother.”

“Is that a metaphor?”

“No, we did a creepy full moon midnight ritual and became blood brothers,” Harry admitted.

“If anyone else had said that, I would have laughed, but this is you so…you’re telling the truth, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” Harry confessed, “And nobody apart from Daphne and Lilly knows that by the way, so don’t shout about it.”

Charlie nodded, “I won’t,” he promised.

“Anyway, the point is that you don’t change,” Harry said, “Nothing erodes you. You are exactly the same as you were when I met you, however many years ago. I think Astoria underestimated you. I think she thought that she could mould you into the kind of husband that she wanted and frankly, I think you overestimated her.”

Charlie looked up quickly at that.

“Don’t get me wrong, she’s my sister-in-law, and her heart is in the right place most of the time,” Harry said, “But she’s a far cry from the sweet little 7th-year girl who asked me for my autograph.”

“Yeah,” Charlie sighed, “That was where our relationship problems began. She’s not the same person, but I am.”

Harry nodded.

“And I guess that’s my fault,” Charlie shrugged, “She was 18 when we started dating. She was fresh out of school, fresh out of a war. She grew up, and as she did, she realised that I wasn’t what she wanted.”

“I’m sorry that things went so wrong,” Harry said honestly, “And I do sympathise, you know?”

“Why? Are things bad with you and Daphne?” Charlie asked in surprise.

“Nah, not at all,” Harry replied offhandedly, “But Daphne, as much as I love her, is hard work. She’s high maintenance, but she’s a brilliant mother. She’s fiercely independent, but she can be so soft. She’s a paradox, you know?”

Charlie nodded.

“And I don’t think I could handle her on my own,” Harry confessed with a rueful smile, “Lilly keeps her in check. She calms her down…balances her out, I guess. If we had a conventional relationship, I don’t think our relationship would last with me doing this job because I just wouldn’t be able to handle the strain.”

“I get it,” Charlie said honestly, “You’re a family, you’re each other’s support system.”

Harry nodded, “I guess so. But, don’t take this the wrong way, I sometimes think about how my life _could_ have gone. I couldn’t imagine Ginny and I having four kids and coping without absolutely hating each other. She would probably have accused me of being a workaholic, and I am, Charlie. I rely on Neville to drag me home when I get too involved. Lilly and I have lunch breaks together all the time because we both get so involved that we forget to eat. If we didn’t have the four-way relationship that we have, I’d never have a good work-family balance so yeah, I sympathise.”

“Yeah, well… I think I’m just going to give up on love for the rest of my life,” Charlie said with a shrug.

Harry chuckled, “That’s the funny thing about life, Charlie. The moment you give up? That’s when you find what you’re looking for. Look at Daphne and me, we gave up on having a baby and adopted Alastor then Daphne got pregnant. Bill felt completely down on his luck after the divorce with Fleur then he re-connected with Lara. You never know what’s around the river bend.”

“Did you just quote a Disney movie at me?”

“Don’t judge me, Andie watches it on repeat, and I accidentally found myself singing along the other day,” Harry said, shooting the redheaded man a sheepish grin.

* * *

“Good afternoon, boys,” Caroline said with a warm smile, “There’s coffee.”

Draco sighed, “Thank Merlin. The coffee in the department is diabolical.”

Theo snorted and sat down on the sofa while Draco poured himself a cup of coffee.

“How have the nightmares been for the past few nights?” Caroline asked.

“Getting better, aren’t they?” Draco asked, sitting down next to Theo, “You only tried to kill me once last night.”

Caroline raised an eyebrow, “Does joking about it help?”

“Yes,” Draco and Theo replied in unison.

“Fair enough,” Caroline remarked, “I presume you know what the nightmare is about, Draco?”

Draco nodded, “I do, yeah.”

“And do you two go to sleep at the same time every night?”

“Unless I’m on the night shift, we do, yes,” Draco replied, “Why?”

“The first question I need to ask is, can you assure me that Theo is getting to sleep without the aid of any potions or alcohol?” Caroline asked.

“Yes,” Draco replied simply, “We work on the castle until he’s exhausted so that he passes out the minute his head hits the pillow.”

“It’s physical work then?”

“Sometimes, but it’s always taxing,” Draco replied as he suppressed a yawn, “We’re trying to clear 25 years of gunk out of the pipes right now so we can get clean water in the older part of the castle.”

“It’s not as fun as it sounds,” Theo joked.

Caroline smiled, “How often does Theo have this nightmare?”

“Every night, at least once,” Draco replied, “It happened three times one night which was the worst it had been.”

“Did anything happen to trigger a particularly bad night?” Caroline mused.

“It was the night after Lucia’s trial,” Theo replied, “When she killed herself.”

“Of course,” Caroline said, “How are you both coping with that? She was your half-sister, after all.”

“She was also a monster,” Theo remarked.

Draco nodded, “She was unhinged. She shared our DNA but nothing more. If we thought that she could have been saved, I think we might have felt a bit of remorse, but she was….”

“Too far gone,” Theo finished.

Caroline looked between the two of them for a moment then nodded, apparently satisfied that they were telling the truth.

“When Theo wakes up from these nightmares, how does he look?” Caroline asked.

“Terrified,” Draco answered.

“And does he lunge out before or after he wakes up,” Caroline asked.

“Before,” Draco replied, “His eyes are shut when he grabs me then when he opens them, the fear is there.”

“And how do you snap him out of it?”

“I’ve learned enough wandless magic to get him off with a gentle blast of magic,” Draco replied, “And usually talking to him works. I just tell him that he’s in the real world, that sort of thing.”

“You said, usually that works,” Caroline said.

Draco nodded.

“But not all of the time?”

“Not if the nightmare is really vivid for whatever reason,” Draco answered.

“So what do you do when that doesn’t work?” Caroline asked, her pen poised over the parchment.

Theo made a face.

“Well…” Draco said sheepishly, “It’s complicated, but after he woke up from the nightmare curse, Theo couldn’t work out if I was _me_ or if _he_ was in the nightmare world. The only way I was able to get through to him that I was me was to do the one thing that the evil version of me wouldn’t have done.”

“Which is?”

“He kissed me,” Theo muttered.

Caroline didn’t act shocked or horrified, “Okay. So that’s what you do when it’s difficult to wake him up? That’s how you show him that this world is the real one?”

“Yeah,” Draco said, unable to meet her eye.

“Okay,” Caroline said slowly, “Good.”

“Good?” Theo asked.

Caroline smiled, “Yes, I think I might have just worked out how to help you.”

Draco looked up sharply, “Really?”

“The nightmare itself cannot be helped,” Caroline confessed, “You are in essence just having a nightmare about your worst fear. However, the way you react when you wake up _can_ be helped.”

“How?” The two men asked in unison.

“Theo, you lash out because you are afraid that you are in the nightmare world,” Caroline explained, “The stem of the issue is that when you are not entirely alert, you cannot tell which world is real.”

Theo nodded.

“So the solution is a memory suppressor.”

“A memory suppressor?” Theo asked.

“A potion,” Draco frowned, “A rare one.”

“Yes, difficult to brew and only issued by a medical professional,” Caroline agreed, “A memory suppressing potion will dim specifically selected memories. It is incredibly complex to brew because it must be done by a skilled Legilimens and brewed specially for the patient. It is usually used on patients suffering PTSD following the use of the Imperius Curse on them.”

Draco nodded, “I’ve read about it, Theo. They gave Stan Shunpike one to make him forget about all of the people he killed in the war under Voldemort’s influence.”

“So it would make me forget everything from the nightmare world?” Theo asked, hopefully.

“No, it cannot make you forget completely,” Caroline admitted, “But it will suppress the false memories from the nightmare world. They will feel far more distant, more like an old dream that you still remember parts of. Rather than like a previous life that you have lived.”

Theo’s eyes lit up, “And I could get that?”

“Yes, but I must warn you that the waiting list is very long-”

“I’ll make it,” Draco said.

Caroline frowned, “Draco, I am not sure that you have the skill.”

“Not on my own,” Draco agreed. He turned to Theo, “Sadie could be an alchemist if she wanted to be, and you know that I’m a skilled Potioneer and Legilimens, Theo. With Hermione to do all of the research, we could do it.”

Theo nodded and smiled at his best friend, “I know you could.”

Caroline leant back and smiled, “You have a very supportive family, Theo.”

“Tell me about it,” Theo said, chuckling to try and cover up how emotional he was.

“Since we’re so great do you want to take one for the team and work out how the hell to damp-proof the entire basement of the castle?” Draco asked.

“Nope, I’m grateful, but I’m not that grateful,” Theo smirked.

Caroline laughed, “I’m signing you off, Theo. If you struggle with that potion, let me know, and I’ll get you on the waiting list at St. Mungo’s, and if you have any further relapses, you know where I am.”

Theo smiled broadly, “Does this mean I can go back to work?”

Caroline nodded, “I’ll have a chat with John, and if he agrees, you could start back as early as Monday if you feel ready.”

Theo positively beamed at that news and Draco grinned too. It did him a world of good to see Theo looking happy and like his old self again.

* * *

“You want us to expand into curse breaking?”

Daphne nodded and leant back in her chair, “Yes, I do.”

Astoria was sitting on the edge of her desk in her swanky harbour-view office.

“Why would we do that?” Astoria asked.

Daphne slid a file across the desk, “Because it would be profitable. Take a look at our projection over the first five years.”

Astoria opened the file and glanced at the figures, “You would make a loss in the first year, and it would take a further two years to gain enough profit to pay it off so you wouldn’t make any money until year four.”

“That’s not unusual for a new business venture,” Daphne argued, “And the profits in the long-term would make it worthwhile.”

Astoria shook her head, “I can’t see it, sorry.”

Daphne raised an eyebrow at her, “Are you blind then? Or just stupid?”

Astoria shut the folder with a snap, “Neither. I just don’t like time wasters.”

“Time wasters?” Daphne scoffed, “I’m your sister!”

“I don’t care who you are,” Astoria said calmly, “We are not going up in direct competition with Gringotts. That would be stupid, and it would be bad for the business.”

“Is that the real reason or is it because you don’t want to work with a Weasley since you just threw divorce papers at one?” Daphne asked hotly.

Bill grimaced, “Daphne, what happened to staying calm and not mentioning Charlie?”

“She pissed me off, that’s what happened Bill,” Daphne snapped.

Astoria glared at her sister, “This has nothing to do with Charlie, and I told you that I wouldn’t give you a handout just because you are family.”

Daphne got to her feet and said, “What you seem to have forgotten is that while you are the CEO of Greengrass Industries, you are not the sole owner. There are three of us who have a stake in the company and Dad and I both think this is a good idea, so you are outnumbered, Tori.”

Astoria’s expression changed, “Get out.”

“Bill, leave us alone please,” Daphne said, keeping her eyes on Astoria’s, “We need to discuss this in private.”

There was no way that Bill was going to argue having seen and felt the tension between the sisters. He fled the office straight away, and as soon as he did, Daphne said, “You can drop the act now.”

Astoria burst into tears and let Daphne wrap her arms around her.

“So divorcing him does hurt,” Daphne said, hugging her little sister tightly.

“Of course, it does!” Astoria said tearfully, “I love him, but we just can’t make it work.”

“In all fairness, you never _worked_ at making it work,” Daphne pointed out.

“How could I?” Astoria asked. She drew back and wiped her eyes, “As time went on, I realised something, and I knew there was no way that Charlie and I would be able to work through it.”

Realisation shone in Daphne’s eyes, “You don’t want kids, ever. Do you?”

Astoria shook her head, “No. I like yours, but there’s a reason that I don’t stay for long. It’s not the life that I want. Frankly, I don’t understand how you can have so many after the way that we were raised because it makes me never want to bring a child into this world.”

Daphne shrugged, “I was lucky. I got to see my husband as a father before I gave birth to his child, twice actually.”

Astoria looked up at her sister.

“I got to see him with Teddy before I even married him,” Daphne said softly, “And before that, I didn’t want children either. I didn’t think I would be a good mother. I thought I was too cold, too unfeeling.”

Astoria swallowed; that sounded familiar.

“But then I spent an Easter with Harry and Teddy,” Daphne said, a smile slipping onto her face, “And I fell in love with that little boy. I fell in love with being his mother, and I knew it was something that I wanted to do over and over again. That was why we adopted Alastor. Twice, I saw Harry be a fantastic father before I gave birth to Andrea. Not everyone is that lucky.”

Astoria shook her head, “It’s more than that, Daphne. I look at your life, and all I can think is how much I would hate it, your life is my worst nightmare.”

Daphne took a step back, “Wow, thanks Astoria,” she said dryly.

“Just hear me out,” Astoria said, “The thought of being stuck in the house with a brood of kids terrifies me. The thought of being tied down like that…I just don’t want it. I want to travel, and I want to keep seeing the world. I want to keep meeting new people. I like the parties, and I love the galas, I enjoy business trips.”

Daphne shook her head, “I like a party, a Ministry ball, a gala, whatever, as much as the next person Astoria. I like dressing up, going out and playing the part of Marchioness Potter. But what I _love_ is spending an afternoon out in the greenhouse with Teddy and Neville. I love watching him learn and absorb everything; I love watching him grow into this amazing kid that his birth parents would be proud of.”

Astoria sat down behind her desk as Daphne continued, “I love watching Harry zooming around the garden on a broom with Al. I love watching Lilly sing to Andie to get her back to sleep after one of her bad dreams. I love the middle of the night feeds with Thea when we’re both so tired that I don’t put her back in her cot, and I wake up with her snuggled against me. To me, that is what life is about. it’s not about money, fancy parties or material things.”

“To me, it is about that.”

“Right now it is,” Daphne agreed, “And I just hope that you don’t change your mind too late and realise that you have put material matters before people. Because if you do, you are going to be a very lonely person later in life.”

“Why don’t you just let me worry about my own life?” Astoria asked bitterly.

“Okay,” Daphne conceded, “But if you ever need me, you know where I am.”

Astoria said nothing as Daphne walked towards the door.

“And Daphne?”

Daphne paused and turned around, “Yes?”

“You can have your curse-breaking firm,” Astoria said with a resigned sigh, “I still feel uneasy about going up against the goblins but you and Bill have worked with the goblins for years so if you think it will work, I’ll trust you.”

Daphne smirked, “I already knew that I was getting my curse-breaking firm. I knew it before I even came into the meeting, sweetie.”

Astoria frowned as Daphne handed her a business proposal.

“Dad and I had already discussed it and agreed to over-rule you if you said no for no logical reason,” Daphne admitted, “Granted, your reasoning with the goblins is better than the reason I thought you might have.”

“You thought I would shun a decent business proposal because of my personal circumstances?” Astoria asked, raising an eyebrow at her sister, “Do you know me at all?”

“At the moment, I’m not so sure Tori,” Daphne confessed, “We’ve both changed a lot over the last few years, and we don’t see much of each other so if I’m honest… I had no idea how you would react.”

Astoria sighed, “There will be conditions, but if you can get us a contract with the DMLE, I see that as a huge advantage.”

“Of course I can get us a contract with the DMLE,” Daphne said with an easy smile, “I’m married to the Assistant Head Auror, remember?”

“I know exactly who you are married to,” Astoria said with a shake of her head, “The entire wizarding world does. What I don’t know is how capable he is going to be of convincing his boss to take on a contract with a new business.”

“If he tells his boss that it will cost less, I’m certain he will agree,” Daphne remarked, “Trust me, getting a contract with the DMLE is going to be a walk in the park.”

“And it will get us a foothold in the Ministry,” Astoria mused, “Which is big.”

“Uh-huh,” Daphne agreed, “Just sometimes, even big hotshot CEO’s have to trust their big sisters, you know? Even if that big sister is _just_ a stay at home mother at the moment.”

“I didn’t mean it like that, and you know it,” Astoria said firmly, “You are one of the best curse breakers this country has seen, and I know that.”

“I know that you didn’t mean it like that,” Daphne confessed, “But I think you have gotten so good at doing business deals that you’ve forgotten how to speak to your own family.”

Before Astoria could say anything further on the subject, Daphne swept out of the room.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	33. Together We Stand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it took so long for an update! Hopefully a few more chapters will be up soon if I can get them edited sufficiently :)
> 
> P.S: The chapter title comes from the song:  
> Keep Holding On by Avril Lavigne.

Draco and Theo had gathered their wives for a family meeting in the kitchen of Blacknot Castle. Hermione looked suspicious, and Sadie looked worried as they surveyed their other halves.

“I know you probably thought that we would all get a break now,” Draco confessed from where he leant against the counter, “Our evil bitch of a sister is gone, we’ve got this place to do up, and it’s all looking up, _but_ there’s another mission at hand.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “Could you quit talking like an Auror for two minutes?”

“Sorry,” Draco said sheepishly, “But we need to brew a potion for Theo, and it’s going to take all of us.”

He opened up an old book that lay on the counter and pointed to the earmarked page.

Hermione frowned, “Why does this look like dark magic?”

“It’s not,” Theo promised, “Just old magic, look.”

“A memory suppressing potion?” Hermione asked in surprise, “Draco, I know you love Theo – I mean, we all do – but that is illegal.”

“Unless you have permission from a Healer,” Draco agreed. He handed Hermione a piece of parchment.

She opened it up and frowned, “Explicit written permission from Senior Mental Health Healer Caroline Lamb?”

Draco nodded.

“Okay,” Hermione said slowly, “So if it’s not illegal you know I’ll be on board, but this is an ancient, rare potion. Do we have the skill or the ingredients?”

Sadie looked down at the book more closely, “I would say that between us, we have the skill, and I don’t think that the ingredients will be a huge issue either.”

Hermione was about to nod when something on the page caught her eye, “Blood of the innocent? How is that _not_ going to be a problem exactly?”

“Oh, it’s an ancient spellbook, love,” Draco said, “That doesn’t mean what it used to.”

Hermione crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Theo, “Could he have been any more condescending if he tried?”

Theo was trying his best to hold back an amused smile, “No,” he said sincerely, “No princess, I don’t think he could have been.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “I just meant that loopholes have been found since books like this were written back in the dark ages.”

Sadie nodded, “Blood of the innocent used to mean sacrificing a child. These days a baby animal of any sort will do.”

Hermione looked at her in disbelief, “And you’re okay with killing a baby animal, are you?”

Sadie raised an eyebrow at her, “Hermione, I was studying Alchemy before my surprise pregnancy got me kicked out. It’s not all sunshine and rainbows, some of the ingredients come from living creatures, and sometimes those creatures have to die for the ingredients to be obtained.”

“You don’t cry every time you put frogs legs in a potion, do you?” Draco asked pointedly.

Theo noticed the tell-tale signs of rage on Hermione’s face and intervened, “Guys, come on. You know she’s all about animal rights. It’s different when you can buy ingredients from an apothecary. We’re talking about slaughtering a baby animal and draining its blood. Little miss save the house-elves was never going to let us do that without a fight.”

Hermione was about to shout at him when Theo finished with a smile, “She wouldn’t be Hermione Granger otherwise, would she?”

Hermione looked at him in surprise, “That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me, Theo.”

Sadie snorted in amusement.

Draco looked at Sadie in disbelief, “When did it become us versus the Nott cousins, exactly?”

“Oh around the time you snogged my wife at my wake, mate,” Theo joked.

Nobody laughed at the joke; they just looked at Theo in surprise.

“Yeah, I’m making jokes about it now. Would you look at that? I’m cured, it’s a miracle – thank you God!”

“You’re an idiot,” Sadie said with a fond smile.

“But he’s our idiot,” Draco said. He put his arm around his best friend, “Which is why we’re going to make this potion to help with his recovery. Right?”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “I’ll have no part in the slaughtering of baby animals, but yes, I will help.”

Sadie nodded, “I’ll start harvesting the ingredients straight away.”

Hermione made a face.

“Would it make you feel better if I promised to use a horrible animal rather than a cute one?” Sadie asked her best friend.

Draco snorted, “I doubt it. Did you see that ugly excuse for a cat she had while we were in school?”

Hermione glared at her husband, “I _loved_ Crookshanks!” she snapped before she stalked out of the kitchen in the huff.

“You’re not getting any for at least a week,” Theo sniggered, patting Draco on the back as the blonde man rolled his eyes at his wife’s retreating back.

* * *

“Harry! My husband is an arse!”

Harry looked up at Hermione in amusement, “I know he is. I have the misfortune of being his Auror partner. What did he do to piss you off so much?”

“He’s just totally okay with killing a baby animal!” Hermione fumed, “And from him and Theo that wouldn’t surprise me, but Sadie is on board with it too!”

“Why are you killing a baby animal?” Harry asked in alarm.

“For a rare, ancient potion to help suppress Theo’s false memories,” Hermione said offhandedly, “So yes, I see why it has to be done, but I disapprove of the method! And I don’t approve of Draco taking the piss out of me either. Theo stood up for me, Harry, _Theo,_ not Draco!”

Harry raised an eyebrow at her, “Well, you did marry Draco Malfoy. I don’t know why you expected him to act…not like Draco Malfoy.”

“Eloquent,” Hermione snorted, “And untrue. I married Draco Black.”

“Oh he’s Draco Malfoy, always has been and always will be,” Harry said offhandedly, “We all know it. When I’m pissed off with him, I instinctively call him Malfoy. Do you ever do the same?”

“Sometimes,” Hermione admitted, “But not when we’re fighting.”

Harry grinned, “In the bedroom? Kinky.”

“Shut up; Daphne still calls you Potter sometimes.”

“No, she doesn’t.”

“You’re a terrible liar,” Hermione said with a shake of her head. She leant against the dining room table, “But seriously, would you be okay with taking a tiny innocent baby animal, killing it and draining its blood?”

“Of course I would be, Hermione,” Harry replied, “I’m an Auror. I have to do awful things in the line of duty sometimes.”

A loud laugh sounded as the kitchen door blew open.

“Are you taking the piss?” Neville asked. He shut the door behind him and shrugged off his scarf, it was October now, and with Potter Manor being up in the Lake District, you could feel the cold more than you could in London. It was nothing compared to Blacknot Castle which was draughty at the best of times though.

Harry rolled his eyes, “Shut up.”

Neville grinned, “Seriously though, you’re the guy who couldn’t kill the rabbits while we were in isolation for Auror training, remember?”

Hermione raised an eyebrow at Harry, “Is that so?”

“No, he’s lying. There’s coffee in the pot by the way,” Harry said to his best friend.

Neville’s grin widened as he poured himself a cup, “You were worried that they were on their way to their rabbit wives then they got caught in a trap, became our dinner and never went home. You were sitting there eating your rabbit stew talking about the rabbit wives and babies who were sitting at home looking at the clock waiting for their rabbit dad to come home.”

“You read too much Beatrix Potter as a kid,” Hermione mused.

“Yeah, she was related to me,” Harry admitted, “She was a squib.”

“Of course she was,” Hermione said with a shake of her head, “Everyone is related to you.”

Harry nodded in agreement.

“You couldn’t kill the stag either,” Neville reminded him, “You got all teary because it reminded you of your dad.”

“Goddamn it Neville, you’re ruining my reputation!”

* * *

“Mum!”

Daphne resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she put the cup of coffee that she had _just_ poured out, down on the table, “I’m in the kitchen, Ted!”

Teddy jogged into the kitchen with a notebook in his hand, “Hey Mum, can you Muggle-proof my homework?”

Daphne frowned and sat down at the kitchen table, “I thought Uncle Nev was doing that for you?”

“He is, but this one is about Dad,” Teddy said sheepishly. He looked down at his feet, “And it’s kinda embarrassing so…”

“You don’t want Uncle Nev to read it,” Daphne said with a slight smile, “Okay, hand it over.”

Teddy handed her the notebook. At the top of the page in Teddy’s teacher's neat handwriting was the instruction, _“Write about your hero – that person can be a fictional character, such as Batman. Or it can be someone that you know.”_

The first words in Teddy’s messy scrawl tugged at Daphne’s heartstrings.

_“My hero is my dad. My father was a hero too, but I don’t know him. Him and my mother died when I was a baby, and my mum and dad raised me.”_

Daphne cleared her throat, “Dad is your hero, Teddy?”

Teddy didn’t meet her eye. He kept his gaze on the floor and nodded, “Yeah, he saves people all of the time.”

“I know,” Daphne said softly, “Sit down, love.”

Teddy sat down at the table, and Daphne looked back down at his homework. Muggle-proofing had become a thing after Teddy mentioned a magical plant in his homework and was questioned by his teacher. Usually, it was a tedious task which was why Daphne had jumped at the opportunity to hand it over to Neville when he offered. But she was glad that Teddy had brought this particular piece of homework to her.

_“My dad saves people. I can’t say what his job is because it’s a secret. But he’s a hero. That’s not why he’s my hero though, he’s just my hero because he’s my dad. He didn’t get made to be my dad, he just chose to be. My father died and he said he would raise me. Before she died, my Gran said that was brave because he was just a kid too but he still took me in. He’s my hero because he takes me to see my favourite team play and because he never gets angry when I ask him questions. He helps my mum with my brother and sisters and he goes to work and he never gets tired._

_Everyone loves my dad and everyone thinks he’s a hero. I think he gets fed up about that sometimes but I’m glad he’s a hero. If he wasn’t I wouldn’t have my little brother Al. My dad took him in and looked after him too, just like he did with me and now I have two little sisters too. My family is great and I love them all, especially my mum but my dad will always be my hero even when he isn’t everyone else’s anymore.”_

Daphne wiped her eyes with the edge of her sleeve as she came to the end of the page.

Teddy looked up, “Why are you crying, Mum?”

“I just thought what you wrote was very sweet, Teddy,” Daphne said honestly, “And it’s fine. Nothing about it needs to be changed.”

Teddy crossed the room and hugged Daphne. Daphne smiled and pulled him closer, “We have always loved you, Teddy. Your Dad from the minute he held you in his arms after the war and me from the minute I saw you. Taking you in and raising you was not a difficult decision or task, okay?”

Teddy nodded tearfully, “Thanks, Mum.”

Daphne kissed him on the top of the head, “Anytime,” she promised softly.

* * *

Harry was exhausted by the time he got home from his late-shift, “I swear, if he asks me to help him install electricity in that castle one more time, I’m going to electrocute him,” he said as he walked into the drawing-room.

Daphne looked up, “Draco?”

“Who else?” Harry said with a roll of his eyes, “We were on a stake-out tonight, which went nowhere annoyingly enough, and all he talked about was that goddamn castle.”

Daphne smiled slightly, “Well, I have something that might improve your mood.”

Harry sat down next to her on the sofa closest to the fire, “Yeah?”

She nodded, “Teddy asked me to muggle-proof his homework today, and it was so sweet that I copied it to show you.”

Harry took the piece of parchment that Daphne was holding out to him. He frowned when he looked down, but his eyes widened when he began to read the words on the page.

“Oh…” Harry said softly, bringing his hand up to his mouth as tears threatened to spill. Daphne placed her hand on his knee as he read the entire page.

By the time he was done, Harry was crying.

“I never knew he felt that way,” Harry admitted, his voice rough with emotion.

“Neither did I,” Daphne said. She rolled the scroll of parchment up, “But we’re keeping this.”

Harry dried his eyes, “Yeah, thank you.”

Daphne shuffled closer to him, “I’ve never doubted whether it was the right thing, you know? From the minute we adopted Teddy, and Al for that matter, I honestly can’t say I ever doubted or regretted it.”

“Me neither,” Harry confessed with a watery smile, “Do you think my hero complex rubbed off on you, then?”

“Don’t ever tell Lilly that I’m saying this, but maybe I’m a little more Hufflepuff at heart than I care to let on,” Daphne confessed.

Harry laughed and leant over to kiss her lightly, “I love you, and you’re a fantastic mother.”

“I love you too,” Daphne returned, “And it’s not just the kids who think you are a hero.”

* * *

There was always some sort of chaos or drama at the Burrow. Every Sunday, without fail, something happened.

On this particularly rainy October Sunday, everyone was in a bit of a bad mood anyway. This was chiefly because the change in the weather had forced them all inside for the first time in months.

“You’re remarkably cheerful today,” Draco said to Harry in a whisper, “What’s up?”

“Does there need to be a reason?” Harry whispered back.

The whispering was necessary because they were both holding their very young, very sleepy babies.

“No, but with you, there always is one,” Draco returned, “Did you get laid last night?”

Harry grinned, “For the first time since Thea was born.”

Draco smiled in amusement, “Must have been a worse birth than Andrea’s. You were shagging weeks after that.”

“Not quite weeks after,” Harry corrected, “But yes, Thea’s birth wasn’t quite as comfortable.”

“Don’t ever say that in front of a woman, I doubt they would describe any birth as comfortable,” Draco pointed out.

“Good point,” Harry agreed, “By the way, have you decided what you’re doing with the electricity yet?”

“Well since my Auror partner won’t help me-”

“Yes, Draco. I am actually rather fond of you; therefore, I do not want to help you electrocute yourself.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “I got a quote from an electrician.”

“To install electricity in the entire castle?” Harry asked.

“Yes.”

“And how much is that going to set you back?” Harry asked curiously.

“The quote says £20,000,” Draco admitted, “And I’m not great at converting in my head, but that’s going to be about-”

“4,000 Galleons,” Harry finished.

“Yeah.”

“I could buy a fleet of broomsticks for that,” Harry said in disbelief, “Hell, I could buy your shitty Quidditch team for that.”

“The Arrows are not shit!”

Caspian stirred in Draco’s arms, so both men fell silent. Draco grimaced as the baby opened his mouth and then…

“WAAAAAAAH.”

“I hate you,” Draco said, glaring at Harry, “This is your fault.”

“Sorry,” Harry said sheepishly.

“I expect coffee tomorrow morning,” Draco muttered irritably as he walked away, bouncing Caspian to get him to go back to sleep.

* * *

Later that day, the drama that they had all been waiting for, hit.

“While we’re all together guys,” Charlie said, standing up in the middle of the kitchen after Sunday dinner, “At the risk of royally pissing off Mum, I have to confess that the Weasley divorce rate has just gone up.”

Molly’s eyes snapped up, “You and Astoria are divorcing?”

“Of course they are, Mum,” Percy said quietly, “They have hardly seen each other this year. It was obvious that things weren’t working out.”

“Exactly, thank you Perce,” Charlie said with a nod.

Molly sighed, “Honestly! Where did I go wrong with you two? I don’t have any of this divorce nonsense from your younger brothers, do I?”

Charlie rolled his eyes because he had seen this coming.

“Percy and George both married nice girls and are quite happy!” Molly continued, “After his false start, Ron married a lovely young lady-”

“Mum!” Ron cut in, “You can’t say that.”

Felicity nodded and lowered her voice, “Frederick is just next door; you can’t call him a false start.”

Molly shook her head and said, “Sorry Ron, but you know what I mean.”

Arthur shrunk into the corner to hide from the difficult conversation.

“Harry and Hermione both settled down just fine,” Molly continued, “And they are both perfectly happy!”

“Only because of the other people in their relationships,” Bill said, shooting Harry and Hermione an amused grin.

“Fuck you, Bill,” Harry returned.

“I’m past the point of denying it,” Hermione whispered, “We did just buy a bloody castle together after all.”

Harry snorted, and Molly finished, “And Ginny is still married, even if her relationship with Blaise is a little unconventional-”

“A little unconventional?” Charlie snorted, “She’s sleeping with her husband’s sister!”

“Charlie!” Molly snapped, “Hope is right next door!”

“And?” Bill asked, “Do you really think that Hope doesn’t know? They all live together; she sees her mum kissing Blanche more than she sees her kissing her dad. That girl isn’t daft Mum.”

“Bill is right,” Ginny agreed, “Hardly any of us are in conventional relationships so don’t give Charlie shit for wanting to end his boring one for something more. No offence Daphne, I know she’s your sister.”

“None taken,” Daphne said, “She has been a selfish cow for the past year. She completely neglected your marriage Charlie, and that was unfair.”

Charlie nodded, “As much as I hate to admit it, things just weren’t working out.”

“I did warn you, years ago, when you first got together,” Bill admitted.

“Bill, don’t go there-” Daphne warned him.

But Bill went there, “I had been there and done that. I told you that a relationship with an age gap that big was never going to work because at some point you would realise that you were at different stages of your life and therefore incompatible.”

Charlie looked at his brother, irritably.

“And that’s where you are right now,” Bill finished.

Charlie threw a spell across the kitchen. Bill deflected and threw another one back at him.

Molly took a step forward and put a strong barrier in-between them, “Enough! No fighting in my kitchen! You two can take this outside right now!”

With a wave of her wand, the backdoor flew open.

Charlie and Bill traipsed outside, and Molly called, “And do not think about setting foot in this house until you have resolved your issues!”

She shut the door loudly and turned to the other occupants of the kitchen. They were all watching her expectantly, waiting for her to blow up or burst into tears. Instead, she took a breath and asked, “Who wants dessert? Treacle tart, Harry?”

Harry looked bemused, “Uh…yeah Molly. That would be lovely.”

* * *

On Monday morning, all the occupants of Blacknot Castle were up early. This wasn’t out of the ordinary for three out of the four of them, but on this occasion, Theo was also up early because he began his new job that day.

It was also a big day for Draco because the kitchen had finally been finished over the weekend, and thanks to Hermione’s Dad, the plumbing was up and running in all parts of the castle. This meant one thing – staff were required.

“Sadie!”

“For the love of Merlin!” Sadie jumped, “Could you _not_ corner me in a secret passage before 7 am, please?”

“Sorry,” Draco admitted sheepishly. He had caught her on her way down a secret staircase that opened up outside the kids' rooms, “But I need your help.”

Sadie narrowed her eyes at him, “Okay.”

“Remember that favour you owe me? For when I illegally acquired information from Hogwarts for you when you were redrafting “ _Hogwarts: A History”_?”

Sadie crossed her arms, “Uh-huh.”

“I’m calling it in,” Draco confessed. He leant against the wall and caught her eye, “I need you to go with Hermione to select the new household of elves today.”

“Oh, hell no!” Sadie remarked.

“Any favour, any time; that was the deal,” Draco reminded her, trying his best not to smirk.

“You are an evil man, Draco Malfoy,” Sadie muttered, “Of all of the bloody times to call in that favour, you choose now?”

“Do you _blame_ me?” Draco remarked, “It needs to be done today, and it’s Theo’s first day back. I’ll look out for your husband if you can tame my wife.”

“Nobody can tame your wife, she’s Hermione Granger,” Sadie said with a roll of her eyes, “She can’t be tamed.”

“Just make sure she selects enough elves and doesn’t offend them all before they even start working here,” Draco asked, “Please.”

“I will not forget this,” Sadie said, poking Draco in the chest, “And I’m never asking you for a favour again.”

“Noted,” Draco said with a smirk as he slipped past her and jogged down the stairs.

“Dick,” Sadie muttered irritably.

* * *

“It’s the big day,” Draco said later that morning.

Theo looked up, “Huh?”

“The day you come back,” Draco said as if this were obvious. He placed a cup of coffee down in front of Theo, “Rejoin the justice team.”

“Did you just-”

Draco grimaced, “Please don’t tell Harry I said that. I’ve spent the last five years telling him that’s a stupid nickname for the department.”

Theo grinned, “You’ve been his Auror partner for too long, he’s already rubbing off on you.”

“Oh, Salazar help me,” Draco pleaded.

Theo snorted in amusement and sipped his coffee, “I feel weird about coming back, you know? I’m sort of excited, but in equal parts nervous.”

“You were out for a long time,” Draco assured Theo, “I think that’s how everyone feels when they come back after an injury – whether that injury was physical or mental isn’t that important.”

“I guess,” Theo mused.

“It will be fine,” Draco promised him, “You know that we’re right along the corridor if you need anything. Even if that’s just a shit cup of coffee and a chat.”

“I know,” Theo said. He sipped his coffee again and nodded, “Yeah, you’re right. It will be fine.”

“Trust me, your day won’t be worse than your wife’s,” Draco said as he leant against the brand new solid oak worktop in the farmhouse style kitchen that they had installed together.

“Why?” Theo asked slowly, “What’s Sadie doing today?”

“I called in that favour she owes me from way back,” Draco said with a wave of his hand, “You know the big one when I-”

“Broke into Hogwarts and stole confidential information for her?” Theo finished.

“That’s the one,” Draco agreed.

“You’ve been sitting on that favour for years,” Theo said, narrowing his eyes at his best friend, “What was so important that you decided to call it in now?”

“Going to the agency to select the household of elves with Hermione,” Draco answered.

Theo bit his lip to stop himself from grinning, “You are wicked. She’s going to be mad at you for weeks.”

“I know, but I’m not the one she shags, so it’s not going to affect me,” Draco smirked.

“Hey, if this comes down to sides, I’m taking hers, or I’ll not get any for weeks,” Theo snorted.

“When do you get the chance anyway? You sleep with me,” Draco remarked.

“What do you think I do during the day when the kids are at school, and you’re at work?”

Draco made a face, “You’ve been shagging all over the castle?”

This time, Theo smirked, “Oh yeah.”

“Where?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Theo called as he swept out of the kitchen.

“You can apparate to work by yourself, you arse!” Draco called after him.

* * *

“What happened to, ‘you can apparate to work by yourself’, huh Draco?”

Draco rolled his eyes as they stepped into the atrium together, “Shut up.”

Theo grinned, “It will be weird, won’t it? Being on the job together but not together, you know?”

“What you mean watching me and Harry kick arse while you sit and draw pictures?” Draco teased as he handed his wand over to be checked.

“You’re good, Draco.”

“Thanks, Brian.”

“First day back, Theo?”

Theo nodded and handed his wand over, “Yep. How goes life, Brian?”

“Ah, can’t complain,” The security wizard shrugged, “You’re good. Welcome back.”

“Thanks, Brian,” Theo said as he and Draco headed for the lifts.

“Bye, Brian,” They said in unison.

“Reckon he’s got more than fifty words in his vocabulary?” Draco asked in a whisper.

Theo snorted, “Maybe 100, give him the benefit of the doubt. And are you saying you and Harry are better than you and I were? Or he and Neville were?”

“Uh, obviously,” Draco remarked, “I was the Senior Auror, he was the Senior Auror then our rookie partners got themselves banged up so now we’re the dream team.”

“Oh if I could go back in time and tell a 12-year-old Draco Malfoy that in 13 years he would be calling himself and Harry Potter a dream team…” Theo said with a grin.

Draco snorted as they stepped into a busy elevator together, “You’re just jealous.”

“I am not jealous, and I won’t be sitting in my office drawing pictures, I will be making ground-breaking maps that will change the history of the wizarding world forever,” Theo said proudly.

A low chuckle came from behind them.

“Have you seen that office yet, son?”

Theo frowned and looked over his shoulder, “No, Arthur, I haven’t.”

Draco grinned, “Yeah…wait till you see it before you go around puffing your chest out like Percy used to do at school.”

“Oi!”

“He’s got a point mate.”

That voice took Draco by surprise, so he turned around, “Sorenson! You’re back?”

“First day back on the job,” Sorenson said with a smile. His hair was shoulder-length at the moment, and he had swept it to one side to try and cover the worst of the burns on his face, “Same as you, Theo.”

“Sadie didn’t mention it,” Theo admitted.

“Ah, I didn’t tell her,” Sorenson shrugged, “I knew you were starting back today as well and I didn’t want to worry her. It’s been a tough few months for her.”

“It’s been a tough few months for all of you,” Arthur said.

Before anything more could be said, the elevator pinged as it reached the DMLE. They all exited together, and Arthur headed off in a different direction. Sorenson and Percy stepped into the Auror office first, and John smiled from the door of his office, “Nice to see you back, Sorenson. Desk duty for the first week though and make sure you aren’t late for your psych evaluation with Caroline at 3 pm.”

“Yes, sir,” Sorenson said with an easy smile, “It’s good to be back.”

John patted him on the back as he passed.

“Good luck, mate,” Draco said, shooting Theo a smile, “And you know where I am if you need me.”

“I’ll be fine, get to work,” Theo joked.

Draco chuckled and slipped into the Homicide bullpen.

“Good to have you back, Theo,” John said with a wide smile, “How are you feeling?”

“Good,” Theo said honestly, “Rejuvenated and ready to get back to work.”

“Glad to hear it,” John said, “Let me show you where you’re going to be working.”

“From what I hear, I’ll have my own office?” Theo asked.

“You will,” John agreed. He began to walk down the corridor, and Theo fell into step with him.

“Nice,” Theo grinned, “I half expected you to shove me in the corner of the Missing Persons bullpen or something.”

John shook his head, “Not at all. This is your office, Theo.”

Theo looked at the door in front of them in disbelief, “You’re kidding me?”

“No, it’s your office,” John said, “You don’t have to share a bullpen with anyone; it’s all yours.”

“Shep, it’s the cleaning cupboard,” Theo said in disbelief.

“No, it’s not. The entire department has undergone a revamp, remember?” John reminded him.

“Yeah I know it has, but when this was one big bullpen, _that corner_ was where Domestics was, and that door led to the cleaning cupboard behind Rob's desk,” Theo said, he yanked the door open, “It’s a cupboard with a desk in it.”

“It’s your office, Theo.”

“It’s shit,” Theo huffed, “It’s a bloody cupboard! What am I? The crazy inventor who gets shoved in a cupboard in the back of the department? I don’t want to be the next Arthur Weasley; I want to be more like Q!”

“Who?”

“Q from James Bond,” Theo said irritably, “I want a secret underground lair with boats-”

“No.”

“And fast cars-”

“No.”

“I want a Batcave,” Theo finished.

“You think the department can afford to give you a Batcave with fast cars and boats?” John quipped, raising an eyebrow at Theo, “It can’t even afford to give me a decent pension.”

“Jack had a Batcave.”

“Which he paid for out of his own pocket,” John pointed out, “So if you’re willing to fork out, you can go ahead and build yourself a Batcave. Until then, enjoy your cupboard.”

“Hah!” Theo said, pointing at John’s retreating back, “I knew it was a cupboard!”

John raised his hand and stuck the middle finger up at Theo.

Theo rolled his eyes and looked at his ‘office’ disdainfully, “Definitely more Jim Gordon than Bruce Wayne,” he muttered as he stepped inside.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	34. There's a Fire Burning in My Bones

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title comes from the song:  
> Fight Song by Rachel Platten.

When Draco and Theo got home on Monday evening, Theo was still fuming about being shoved in a cupboard. However, the rant he had planned died on his lips when he and Draco realised that the air in the kitchen was incredibly frosty, which was unusual for Sadie and Hermione.

“How did today go?” Draco asked cautiously.

“How do you think it went?” Hermione snapped.

Sadie gritted her teeth then breathed in deeply, “It went fine until we had to select a nanny elf.”

Draco and Theo shared an unsurprised look.

“Don’t look at each other like that!” Hermione said as she got to her feet, “You fobbed me off on Sadie because you didn’t want to deal with me!”

“And I’m not surprised, considering,” Sadie muttered.

Hermione glared at her best friend, and Theo asked, “At the risk of getting my head cut off, what happened?”

“Hermione lost her temper at one of the elves, and now none of them wants to be our nanny elf,” Sadie said irritably.

“Because Draco lied about the role the nanny elf would play!” Hermione objected.

Sadie rolled her eyes, “When one of the elves said that they would take the baby into her room to care for it through the night, Hermione lost it.”

“Because Cas sleeps in our room and you wouldn’t change that for the world,” Draco realised quickly. He hit himself on the forehead, “Shit.”

“Yes, shit is the right word,” Sadie said coolly, “Because now we have a staff of wonderful elves – we have cleaners, cooks and even a gardener. But we do _not_ have a nanny.”

“Which means we need to employ a human,” Theo finished.

“No,” Hermione said, “Absolutely not.”

“Hermione-” Draco and Theo said in unison.

“I’m done!” Hermione snapped, throwing her book down on the table and stalking out of the room.

Draco groaned and hit his head off of the doorframe.

“You owe me, big time,” Sadie said irritably.

“I know,” Draco muttered.

“On the bright side,” Sadie said, making Draco look up.

The blonde woman held out a scroll of parchment.

“What’s this?” Draco asked with a frown.

“Despite shouting at elves for the first part of the day, Hermione managed to finish her research on the memory suppressing potion,” Sadie explained.

Draco poured over the information on the scroll in front of him.

“And we got all of the ingredients from the apothecary earlier,” Sadie added, “So you just need to sacrifice a baby animal for its blood, and then you can start brewing.”

“Perfect,” Draco said with a smile. He looked up and patted Theo on the back, “You’ll be sleeping with your wife again before you know it.”

“And if you keep pissing yours off, Merlin knows when you’ll be allowed back in her bed,” Theo said with an amused grin.

Sadie smirked in amusement, “He’s not wrong, you know?”

“I know, I know,” Draco said, shrugging off their comments.

* * *

Neville was very excited on Monday night. So excited that he had gathered everyone in the drawing-room of Potter Manor to fill them in on his news.

Daphne, who had spent the majority of the day with Neville while Harry and Lilly worked, had an inkling as to what it was about. This may or may not have been due to the fact she had seen the Minister for Magic heading up to Longbottom House that morning.

“The big announcement is going to be tomorrow,” Neville said excitedly, “Kingsley is talking to the press, so I expect it will be headline news in Wednesday's edition of the Prophet.”

“But you’re going to give us the inside scoop because you love us?” Lilly asked eagerly.

Neville laughed, “Exactly. The Wizengamot is going to be completely restructured. The 25 seats are going to become 40.”

“You’re practically doubling the size of the Wizengamot?” Daphne asked in surprise.

Neville nodded, “Yep. Some positions are going to remain fixed. For example, people in certain positions automatically have a say in the running of the country.”

“Like the Minister for Magic?” Lilly asked.

“Exactly,” Neville replied, “The Minister for Magic, the Head of St Mungo’s, the Head of Hogwarts, the Head of the DMLE, the Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, the Head of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, the Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, the Head of the Department of Magical Transporation, the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, and an Ambassador from Gringotts bank.”

“A human one?” Daphne asked.

Neville shook his head, “No rule to say so. It can be a goblin.”

“Wow,” Harry said, leaning back in his chair, “That _is_ forward-thinking.”

Daphne nodded her agreement, “I’m impressed.”

“You haven’t even heard the best of it yet,” Neville said with a grin, “That leaves 30 seats to be fought for. These seats are going to be elected – in other words; the Wizarding population is going to vote for the people it would like to represent the wizarding world legally.”

Harry smiled as Neville continued, “To run, someone must receive five nominations.”

“How do people nominate?” Daphne asked with a frown.

“Everyone is going to receive a slip via owl post,” Neville answered, “On that slip, they can nominate three people. Once all replies are received, anyone who was nominated more than five times can run to earn one of those 30 seats.”

“Is there going to be a voting day? Like in the muggle world?” Lilly asked.

“Yes,” Neville replied, “The candidates have a month to drum up support then there will be a voting day. People can vote at the Ministry, at the Leaky or the Three Broomsticks. There will be a list of candidates, and each wizarding citizen can vote for one of those candidates. Obviously, they cannot vote for themselves, though.”

Harry chuckled, “Who would?”

Daphne snorted, “Theo would.”

“True,” Lilly said with an amused smile.

“So how does this vote decide who sits on the Wizengamot?” Daphne asked curiously.

“After everyone has voted, the votes will be counted, and the top thirty candidates are the ones who get a seat on the Wizengamot,” Neville informed her, “This process will be repeated every three years to keep things fair and fresh. It’s the start of our new democratic way of running things.”

“It’s brilliant, Nev,” Harry said proudly, “Good work.”

Neville grinned, “Thank you.

Lilly smiled and kissed him on the cheek, “You should be proud. This is a huge step forward, and you are the one pioneering it.”

“We really did spend far too long underestimating you, Neville Longbottom,” Daphne said with a fond smile.

* * *

Draco was not prepared to be bombarded with information from a bouncing Hermione at 7 am. Not on any morning to be fair, but especially not the morning after a late-night stake-out.

“Draco! The paper!” Hermione said, shoving it in his face.

Draco yanked it away from her and made a face, “What about it?” he grumbled.

“Look!” Hermione squealed, “Look at it!”

Draco rubbed his eyes and looked down at the front page, “Huh, Neville got going with his restructuring of the Wizengamot quickly, didn’t he?”

Hermione nodded, “It’s going to be legally enforced at the end of the month.”

Draco sat down and yawned, “Why are you so happy about it?”

“Because,” Hermione said, clicking her fingers in front of his face, “Would you wake up, please?”

Draco sighed and looked up at her, his eyes clear rather than bleary for the first time that morning.

“Because I want to run, obviously,” Hermione said, “I’ll get five nominations. I’ll get all of you guys to nominate me.”

Draco stared at her, “You’ll be on the Wizengamot.”

“Yes,” Hermione beamed.

“With me?”

“Assuming you keep your spot,” Hermione pointed out, “If five people don’t nominate you then you can’t run, and even if you do run, there’s a chance you don’t get voted in.”

Draco let that sink in for a minute, “I suppose.”

Hermione bit her lip, “Would that be okay? If I got in and you didn’t? It wouldn’t cause…problems?”

Draco forced a smile onto his face, “Why would it cause problems? I’ve been on the Wizengamot for the past five years and you haven’t been, even though you wished you were sometimes.”

Hermione’s smile got even wider, “Thank you! I’m so excited!”

* * *

**30 MINUTES LATER…**

“I mean I lied _obviously_! Of course, it will cause problems!” Draco fumed to the Homicide Office later that day, “What does she mean, I might not get voted in?! Of course, I’ll get voted in! I’m an Auror; I’m a pillar of society.”

“But you’re not the war heroine who helped Harry Potter take down Lord Voldemort,” Terry pointed out.

“Yeah, you’re just the guy who got hugged by him,” Harry teased.

“Harry, we agreed to never talk about that again!” Draco snapped.

“No, you asked me to never talk about it again. I don’t remember agreeing to it,” Harry said with an amused smirk, “I also recall you asking me that on the night of my wedding. We were all pretty far gone that night, and I think Hermione had a rant about Voldemort ruining perfectly good jewellery.”

Draco let a small smile slip onto his face, “And Ron suggested that Voldemort should have thrown you out of the window if he really wanted to kill you because ‘babies are fragile’.”

The others burst out laughing, and Harry added, “He had a two-month-old kid at the time and everything.”

Draco shook his head in amusement, “Anyway, about my dilemma.”

Harry tried to hide an amused smile, “Why is it a dilemma? You said yourself; you would be a hypocrite if you let it cause problems when Hermione didn’t.”

“I know, but this is…different,” Draco said evasively.

“Because she’s a woman and you’re a man?” Ben asked, raising an eyebrow at his boss.

“That’s sexist dude,” Jason agreed.

“Totally sexist,” Harry said with a nod, “And here was me thinking you were a feminist.”

“Shut up,” Draco said, rolling his eyes in Harry’s direction, “It’s different because if Hermione gets a seat on the Wizengamot and I do too, then it’s going to be awkward as hell because you know we’re going to disagree on pretty much everything.”

“Think of all the great make-up sex when you go home though,” Terry joked.

Harry snorted, “Hermione’s not like that. She holds grudges; there will be no make-up sex, only a two-week silence.”

“Exactly,” Draco muttered, sitting down behind his desk heavily, “And if Hermione gets a seat on the Wizengamot and I don’t then I feel like I’m losing my manhood.”

“Is that just cause you’re shagging Theo now?” Harry joked.

“No, mainly because I’m _not_ shagging Theo,” Draco replied dryly.

“Am I the only one who heard a silent ‘yet’ at the end of that sentence?” Jason asked with a chuckle.

“Hey, cut him a break Jace,” Ben said, his eyes falling on Draco, “There are lots of different types relationships, you know? You can have a deep, emotional bond with someone without wanting to shag them.”

“Thank you, Ben,” Draco said with a nod.

“Right well, the profound bond between you and Theo aside,” Harry continued, “You can’t be a dick about this Wizengamot thing. Everything is changing, we might all retain our seats, or we might all lose them. It’s more likely that some of us keep our seats and others don’t, but that’s the point of this whole thing. You can’t be bitter if Hermione gets in and you don’t because you know that she’s perfect for it.”

“I know,” Draco sighed, “It’s just…I’m not a Malfoy, but I’m still a pureblood and tradition still means something to me. You know?”

“I get it,” Harry promised, patting his friend on the back, “But try not to panic about it too much, okay?”

“Yeah,” Draco agreed, flipping open a case file, “I won’t.”

* * *

The men were gathered together for their weekly poker night that Friday. It was the first time they had held it since Theo’s ‘death’. It felt nice to get back to normality finally.

“We should have the next one of these at the castle,” Theo mused as the cards were dealt out.

“Nope,” Harry said, “Poker nights are my thing. We have them at Potter Manor, end of story.”

“Start your own thing,” Neville agreed.

“Duelling club,” Theo suggested.

“Nope,” Draco said, throwing a card onto the table, “Not fair on Neville.”

“Thanks, Draco. That was very thoughtful of you,” Neville snorted.

“Even with a dodgy back, he’d still kick your arse anyway,” Harry said, shooting Neville a grin.

“Doubtful,” Neville laughed.

“Alright then, fight club,” Theo said.

“I’m not entirely human, I would destroy you all,” Rob said, grinning toothily at them.

“Not if we invited Bill,” Ron cut in.

“Full wolf versus half-wolf?” Harry quipped with a raised eyebrow, “I think Rob would have it in the bag.”

Rob smirked.

“Speaking of your wolfiness, has Jen built you a doghouse yet?” Harry joked.

“No, but don’t tempt her,” John grinned, “She reckons Rob is worse around the time of the full moon than she was in pregnancy.”

“Which is a lie, her hormones made her crazy,” Rob pointed out.

“And _that’s_ saying something,” John snorted.

Harry snickered, “So how are you finding it being back in the department, Theo?”

“Yeah, are you enjoying your cupboard?” Neville joked.

“Oh fuck off,” Theo said with a roll of his eyes, “I’m in the fucking cleaning cupboard. It doesn’t matter how much clutter you stick in it Shep; it’s the cleaning cupboard.”

Rob patted Theo on the back, “Hey, been there mate. I did five years next to the cleaning cupboard before the chosen one dragged my department into the 21st century.”

Harry grinned at that description.

“The elves are alright when you get used to them,” Rob finished.

“As if having a tiny office isn’t bad enough, I have to share it with elves,” Theo snorted.

“They bring you cakes if you’re nice to them though,” Rob said, “So on balance…”

“I’m still pissed that I can’t have a Batcave,” Theo said with a shake of his head, “Guys. Would you chip in to fund a Batcave underneath the department?”

Draco and Harry looked at Theo in amusement, “No,” they said in unison.

“Oh, you’re finishing each other’s sentences now? Cute,” Theo said with a roll of his eyes.

“Theo, we can’t put a Batcave under the department because there is another floor underneath it,” Draco said dryly.

“Yeah but it’s a magical building with big hollow gaps in-between the floors,” Theo said eagerly, “So we could create a Batcave under the DMLE.”

“It wouldn’t be a Batcave, though, would it?” Harry asked, “It wouldn’t be underground, just floating in-between departments.”

“It would be more like a bat-mezzanine-floor,” Draco agreed.

Harry looked at Draco in disbelief, “That might have been the gayest thing I’ve ever heard you say.”

“And that’s saying something,” Neville added.

Ron chuckled and threw his cards down, “I fold.”

“You’re shit at poker, mate,” Harry said.

“Yeah, I know. I just come for the company, and the beer,” Ron admitted with a grin.

“And to get a night off from the kids,” Harry finished.

Ron grinned sheepishly in response.

“So just to clarify, nobody is going to fund my Batcave?” Theo asked the group as a whole.

“That’s correct, yes,” John said, shooting Theo an amused look.

“Just me and the elves then,” Theo said with a sigh, “In my tiny little box.”

Draco raised an eyebrow at him, “I can’t believe I’m saying this but at the risk of sounding like Ron fucking Weasley-”

“Oi! I’m right here!” Ron objected.

Draco ignored him and looked Theo dead in the eye, “Are you a wizard or not?”

Ron burst out laughing, and Harry sniggered.

Theo frowned, “What do you mean?”

“Use an expansion charm, you idiot!” Draco exclaimed.

“Oh…” Theo’s frown deepened, “Fuck!”

“Merlin, it’s obvious that you and Hermione are related sometimes,” Harry joked, which just made Ron laugh harder.

“Oh fuck you, Harry,” Theo said half-heartedly, “I fold.”

“You’re almost as shit at poker as Ron,” Harry said in amusement.

“I also come for the company, the beer and to get a night away from the twin terrors,” Theo said, shooting Ron an amused look across the table, “It’s hard going, right?”

“If you two are going to bond over both being fathers of twins, could you do it at the bar since you are equally shit at poker?” Draco asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Done,” Theo said as Ron got to his feet.

Neville shook his head in amusement, “Those two being friends…that’s an unlikely friendship if I ever saw one.”

“Not as unlikely as the ‘dream team’, isn’t that what you called it pretty boy?” Rob asked, grinning at Draco.

Draco glared at him, “How did you hear about that?”

“I drink beer with Brian, the security wizard,” Rob smirked.

“You going to tell us what the hell you’re on about then, Wolfie?” Neville asked calmly.

“Oh just that Draco’s exact description of his partnership with you, Harry, was that you were a dream team,” Rob remarked.

Draco rolled his eyes, “Firstly, fuck you. Secondly, I was just winding Theo up.”

Harry grinned at Draco, “Dream team? That’s cute. Should I make us matching friendship bracelets with love hearts on them, Drakey?”

John grinned and nudged Rob, “You’ve had a bad influence on him.”

Rob chuckled, “I like to think I’ve shaped him into the man that he is today.”

Harry snorted, “I’ll start calling you Wolf Dad, then.”

John choked on his beer at that comment and couldn’t decide whether he needed to cough or laugh more.

Neville shook his head in amusement, “I fold,” he said, throwing his cards down.

“Reckon we should invite the rest of the team to poker night?” Harry mused as he looked across the table at Draco.

Draco made a face, “I don’t know if I like all of them enough yet.”

“I like Owen, he’s a good kid,” Harry said, “If a little sarcastic.”

“Reminds me of Sadie, actually,” Draco said with a nod.

“What do you two make of Jace?” Rob asked curiously.

“I like him well enough,” Harry said, “I can imagine the two of you got on pretty well.”

Rob nodded, “Yeah, he still sleeping with Lux?”

“Ivy’s sister?” Neville asked in surprise.

Rob nodded, “Yep, they were sleeping together when they were both working CPS then Lux talked shit to me and got kicked out.”

“Well, they did lose their baby brother to a werewolf,” Draco said with a shrug, “You’ve got to have a bit of sympathy.”

“I do have a bit of sympathy,” John confessed, “But not when an Auror is spitting insults about their senior officer.”

“You think that part was bad?” Rob scoffed, “Didn’t Liz tell you that she nearly blasted her through a wall?”

“No,” John said in disbelief, “Why did she do that? Liz doesn’t lose her temper often.”

“Nah, she doesn’t,” Rob agreed, “But Lux said that the only reason I was still an Auror was because Liz was pulling the Head Aurors strings, it was right after you got promoted up to the top job.”

John whistled, “She’s her own woman, she always has been. It’s why she never took my name. I can see why that didn’t go down well.”

Harry chuckled, “Isn’t it weird? Her being your wife but not being a Sheppard?”

“Nah,” John replied, “She’s a Sheppard at home and a Weir at work.”

“And you’ve always gotten off on using each other’s surnames,” Rob muttered under his breath.

Harry burst out laughing.

“Oh like you can talk,” Neville snorted, “Every single time you and Daphne fight, you revert to Greengrass and Potter.”

“At least she calls you by your actual surname,” Draco retorted, “When Hermione and I fight she calls me Malfoy.”

“When you and I fight I call you Malfoy, it’s because when you act like a dick, I forget you’re not a Malfoy anymore,” Harry remarked.

“You reckon you’ll ever go back to it, Draco?” John asked curiously.

“Being a Malfoy?” Draco asked in surprise, “No, I don’t think so. The stigma attached to that name isn’t going away anytime soon. My kids are far better off being Blacks than Malfoy’s, especially since their mother is a muggle-born.”

Harry smiled, “Try saying something nice like that to Hermione.”

“While she’s in a bath full of rose petals,” Neville added.

“With a glass of wine,” Harry added with a grin, “Then maybe she’ll forgive you for calling her dead cat an ugly bastard.”

“That is not what I said; you’re paraphrasing Potter!” Draco exclaimed as the table erupted into laughter.

* * *

“Seriously though Ron,” Theo said as he sipped his firewhiskey, “How are you and Felicity getting on?”

“We’re getting by,” Ron said, “I mean it’s hard, don’t get me wrong. I thought I had parenting down to a fine art, but it was different with Freddie. The way Katie put it, I was a part-time parent-”

Theo made a face, “That’s not cool. I thought you and Katie were on good terms?”

Ron shrugged, “We are, I guess. As good as we can be considering we share custody of a child. You know, I never asked only to see him at weekends, but that was the arrangement Katie handed me, and I wanted an easy life, so I agreed to it. But every time we have to make a decision, she gets the first choice because she’s the full-time parent.”

“That’s shit,” Theo remarked.

Ron sighed, “It is what it is. At the end of the day, I have to pay for that stupid mistake that I made, you know? I know it’s all worked out now but back then….every time we all got together, I had to see Lilly being happy with Neville, all the while knowing he was so much better for her than me. And I was the one who shoved her into his arms by sleeping with Katie like an idiot,” he shook his head, “So don’t give me sympathy on that front, I don’t deserve it.”

Theo slid him a glass of firewhiskey, and Ron smiled appreciatively.

“It’s been harder with the twins, partly because there are two of them and partly because I _have_ been a full-time parent this time,” Ron continued, “But mate, I don’t know how you did it at 19 while going through Auror training.”

Theo laughed, “Honestly, sometimes I don’t know how I did it either. I don’t know how it didn’t break Sadie and me apart, but if anything, it made us stronger. I look at those kids now, and you wouldn’t know that their parents were teenagers when they were born. That’s how you know you’re doing a good job of raising them right.”

Ron smiled a little, “You sound broody.”

“I am,” Theo admitted, “I really am, but Sadie can’t physically have any more babies, and she’s not keen on adopting. I thought it was a deal-breaker before Lucia captured me, you know?”

Ron nodded.

“But now…” Theo mused, “Now I don’t care as much. I just care about holding onto Sadie and the two that I’ve got.”

“I guess something like that changes your perspective,” Ron shrugged, “I always thought I’d marry Hermione and become an Auror. That it would always be Harry and me against the world, you know?”

Theo nodded and looked over at the table where their friends were playing poker.

“But then the war ended, and my life didn’t slot into place like I was expecting. And that’s life, isn’t it? It throws you curveballs; it tests you,” Ron said, “And sometimes I have regrets. I regret not becoming an Auror because I don’t feel like I’m making a difference in the world. Then Felicity reminds me that I’m making kids happy, bringing joy into their lives with the joke shop and that means I am making a difference, however small.”

Theo pondered on those words.

“I regret what I did to Lilly,” Ron admitted, “I regret it every time I see her. It’s not because I still have feelings for her; it’s because it reminds me of how shitty a person I was back then. But I don’t regret me and Hermione not working out because I look at her and Draco and it’s just right. Ten years ago, I’d never have said that but somehow those two together, it works. Harry and Draco as Auror partners, I’d never have called that in a million years but they work together.”

“They are a bit of a dream team,” Theo admitted reluctantly.

“I get it, you know?” Ron said, snapping Theo out of his daze.

“What?” Theo asked.

“The way you feel right now,” Ron said, nudging his head in Draco’s direction, “Jealous, and a little bit bitter.”

“It’s not like that-”

Ron held up a hand, “Just hear me out. George and I work great together, we’re both brilliant at what we do in our own way, and those ways are different, but that makes it work.”

Theo frowned, wondering where Ron was going with this.

“But as good as we are, I’m not Fred,” Ron said quietly, “We work well together, but he’ll never get the same joy out of working with me as he did when he worked with Fred. The same goes for Draco; he and Harry are both fantastic Aurors. They are at the top of their game, and they are a brilliant team, but that doesn’t mean that Draco prefers working with Harry.”

Realisation dawned on Theo’s face.

“There’s something about working with your best mate,” Ron said, leaning back and surveying their friends, “There’s something about running headlong into danger knowing that person has your back in the battlefield and will have it at the negotiation table once the danger is over. You just can’t beat that, not ever.”

Theo smiled a little, “For a Gryffindor, you’re remarkably insightful Ron.”

“Ah well, I do my best,” Ron said with a grin.

Theo patted him on the shoulder, “Feel free to call me if you ever need any twin-related advice. I’m always willing to help out a father in need.”

Ron laughed and replied, “Cheers, mate.”

* * *

“Hey. Thought I might find you up here.”

Theo looked up at his best friend and smiled, “Yeah, I find it relaxing.”

“The view or the fresh air?” Draco asked as he sat down next to Theo on one of the balconied areas of the castle.

They both looked over at Hogwarts and watched candlelight flickering in several windows.

“Both,” Theo replied softly.

“You left kind of early tonight,” Draco said, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Theo said, “It was just kind of overwhelming, you know? Having all of us together in a social setting for the first time since…”

Draco set his hand on top of Theo’s on the small table between them, “I get it. But you seemed to be in a pretty deep conversation with Ron at one point.”

“Yeah, I suppose I was,” Theo mused.

They fell into a comfortable silence for a few minutes, but Theo knew that the conversation was far from over. He could sense that Draco had something that he needed to say, or ask.

It didn’t take long. The blonde man sighed and took his hand off Theo’s, “Look, Theo…That whole dream team thing, it was just a laugh. I should never have said it in front of you.”

Theo looked over at Draco in surprise, “What?”

“Harry and me,” Draco said, meeting Theo’s eye, “Yes, we’re friends, and we are a good team, but he’s not you.”

Theo smiled in amusement; he found it appropriate that Draco brought it up tonight considering the conversation he’d had with Ron earlier that evening.

“Neville and Harry are like brothers,” Draco continued, “And you and I are…complicated. But Harry and I, we’re just friends. That’s the difference. I know he’ll have my back out there and he knows that I’ll have his, but when it comes down to the real-life stuff, it’s you I need, it’s you that will see me break down when I just can’t take it anymore, not Harry.”

“Hey,” Theo said, grabbing Draco’s hand, “I get it.”

Draco caught his eye, “You do?”

“Yeah,” Theo promised, “And I’m not jealous or bitter or anything. I’m glad he’s got your back.”

Draco smiled, “Good. I just wanted us to be straight with each other on that one.”

“You two are anything but straight!” Hermione’s voice called from the bedroom attached to the balcony – Draco and Hermione’s bedroom.

Draco and Theo rolled their eyes at each other.

“And if you’re done with your hallmark moment, could you bugger off to your own bedroom, Theo?” Hermione asked as she appeared at the door of the balcony in a satin nightdress, “Because Draco and I have some things that we need to work out.”

Theo grinned at Draco, “Congratulations. You managed to go 72 hours without pissing her off, enjoy reaping the rewards.”

Hermione made a face and shot a stinging curse at Theo’s backside as he dashed across the room to the adjoining door to his bedroom.

“Ouch!” He hissed as he jumped into his and Sadie’s bedroom.

Sadie looked up from the book that she was reading and raised an eyebrow, “Did you insult Hermione?”

“Maybe,” Theo said evasively, “She shot a stinging curse at my arse!”

“Well I’m not kissing it better, and I think Draco is a bit pre-occupied,” Sadie snorted as a loud noise came from next door.

“Ugh, put a silencing charm up please,” Theo said distastefully.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	35. Welcome to the New Age

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:  
> Radioactive by Imagine Dragons.

“Do you think I’m going to be a terrible mother?”

Daphne looked over at Lilly in surprise, “What? No, of course not! Why would you even say that?”

Lilly sighed and looked down into her cup of tea, “I don’t know, I’m just scared, I suppose.”

Daphne sat down opposite her, “Is this because you have your twelve-week appointment at the hospital next week?”

“Maybe,” Lilly said quietly, “But that’s not all it is. When I was younger, I didn’t want kids. Then when I decided I did want them, it looked like we couldn’t have them and I blamed myself for that. I thought that I was being punished.”

“Neville blamed himself too,” Daphne said, reaching across the table and grabbing her best friend’s hand, “Did you know that?”

“No,” Lilly admitted, “Did he talk to Harry about that?”

Daphne shook her head, “No, he came here one night after Theo died. Back when we all thought he was dead, that is. I thought he wanted Harry, but he said that he wanted to speak to me.”

Lilly watched Daphne with interest.

“He asked me about that alternative world that we saw back in Paris,” Daphne explained.

Lilly smiled, “Paris…that feels like a lifetime ago.”

“Doesn’t it just?” Daphne asked with a soft chuckle, “Back when I only had Teddy, not four kids - and you were confused about your sexuality.”

Lilly snorted, “Why did Neville ask you about the alternate world?”

“Because in the alternate world, he and Hannah couldn’t-”

“- have kids,” Lilly finished with wide eyes, “So he thought it was his fault?”

Daphne nodded, “He told me that Hannah was pregnant then said something along the lines of, I guess that’s how we know it’s my fault.”

“Shit,” Lilly sighed, “Maybe it was both of us. Maybe it was one of us, but what does it matter now?”

“It doesn’t,” Daphne promised, “But the point is, you and Neville both blamed yourself for hurting the other person. Now that these babies are on their way, you are going to be the best parents because these babies are your little miracles. Trust me, the way I felt when Andrea was born…I can’t explain it, but there’s just this bond.”

Lilly bit her lip, “But Sadie struggled, and she had twins.”

“You can’t base yourself on Sadie, Lil,” Daphne said softly, “Sadie fell pregnant unexpectantly at 19 years old. She had to give up her dream course, her dream career and in essence, her youth. Then, just when she had gotten her head around that, she found out she was having twins. You have been trying to have a baby for years, and you have known from the get-go that you are having twins. You have plenty of time to wrap your head around it, and you have a supportive husband, not a scared 19 year old one. You have Harry and me too, and you always will.”

Lilly smiled at her best friend, “Thank you.”

“Anytime,” Daphne promised, “And your appointment next week is going to go just fine, trust me.”

“I do,” Lilly promised.

* * *

Draco and Theo had been sharing lunch in Theo’s cupboard, (which would be called that forevermore despite the expansion charm that Theo had now placed on it) they were both eating silently but were also deep in thought. Draco thought they had the same thing weighing on their mind – the Wizengamot situation and whether they would retain their seats.

However, when they both asked a question at the same time, it was clear that they were thinking about very different things.

“Do you think I’ll get five nominations?”

“Do you think we should have a Halloween party?”

“What?”

“What?”

Theo snorted, “You first. What do you mean?”

“Do you think I’ll get the five nominations that I need to run and keep my Wizengamot seat?” Draco asked Theo.

“Yeah, of course, you will,” Theo said bluntly, “I’ll vote for you, and so will Sadie and Hermione-”

“Will she?” Draco cut in.

Theo shot Draco a long-suffering look, “She doesn’t want to steal your Wizengamot seat. She wants to run alongside you so of course, she will nominate you. Stop being petty.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “I’m not petty,” he muttered.

“I beg to differ,” Theo said, looking at his friend with an amused smile, “Harry will nominate you, and if you ask her nicely, I’m sure Daphne will too. There you go, five nominations, boom – you keep your Wizengamot seat.”

“Hm,” Draco mused, “Do you want to keep yours?”

Theo shrugged, “If I get enough nominations then I’ll run, but if someone better gets the job then I’m not going to complain. The whole point of this is to shove the old order out so the new order can bring in change.”

“You think we’re the old order?” Draco asked in surprise.

“Yeah, I think we’re the old order,” Theo remarked, “We’re a Malfoy/Black and a Nott. We might have modern outlooks but our families are the very representation of the old order. People like Hermione and Lilly are exactly what the Wizengamot needs.”

Draco nodded, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

They fell silent for a brief moment; only the sound of quills scratching in the offices nearby filled the air.

“What did you say about a Halloween party?”

“Do you want to have one in the castle?” Theo asked, “We have that big ballroom; it would be nice to christen it.”

“I know, but a Halloween party?” Draco frowned, “It’s a bit cheesy, isn’t it?”

“A bit, I guess, but don’t you think we need that?” Theo asked, “When things were shitty, Hermione would throw a Eurovision party, and we would all dress up and watch stupid people on the magic box, and it brightened our mood.”

“Television, Theo,” Draco said with a fond smile, “It’s not a magic box, how many times do we have to tell you?”

Theo shot him a grin, “It would be fun, Draco. We could all dress up and have a few drinks; the kids could run around. I think it would do all of us a world of good.”

Draco nodded, “It wouldn’t be on Halloween, would it?”

“Yeah, it wouldn’t be on Halloween,” Theo replied, “It would be on the 29th, the Saturday beforehand. Halloween is Alastor and Hope’s birthday so I figured if we had it at the weekend, everyone would be able to make it.”

“Okay, you’ve convinced me,” Draco said, “Let me talk to Harry about it first though. I know he’s better about Halloween now that it’s Al’s birthday but still, with what the holiday means to him…it’s better to ask.”

Theo nodded, “Yeah, I get that. Let me know if he gives it the green light and I’ll send out invites.”

Draco opened his mouth to say okay, then an alarm blared in the corridor outside, and a voice said, “ _Homicide, Vice, Medic 1: Citizens arrest gone awry in Knockturn Alley.”_

“Sounds like your cue, hotshot.”

“I hate you for installing that,” Draco said as he opened the door of the cupboard, “What was wrong with memos?”

“Too slow, not efficient enough for emergencies!” Theo called after him, “I’ll finish your muffin!”

Draco didn’t even have time to roll his eyes as he met the rest of the Homicide team by the apparition point.

“I hate that new alarm system,” Draco said with a shake of his head.

“It’s efficient,” Harry said calmly, “Let’s go.”

They all spun and apparated into Diagon Alley with Vice hot on their heels.

“And it sends the same alert out to the Trauma Ward at St. Mungo’s,” Jason added, “Which means we get here at the same time as the-”

With a whoosh, Clara and Lucille appeared in the alley.

“- Healers,” Jason finished pointedly.

“It was a brilliant idea of Theo’s,” Harry agreed, “Clara, Lucy, we’ve got a person in distress and at least one victim behind Gringotts bank, let’s move guys!”

They all dashed to the back of the bank where the scene was laid out before them. Two men lay in the narrow alley, one of them was dead – his eyes were open wide in a state of fear. The other man was lying in a pile of blood convulsing.

“He’s in shock,” Clara said, dropping down to her knees, “Let’s stabilise him!”

Harry and Draco picked their way across the scene to the victim.

Draco stood behind him and looked straight ahead at the body of the man who was being treated by the Healers. Standing behind them were the joint heads of Vice: Aiden Ford and Oliver Wood.

Aiden, Harry’s old boss, crossed his arms and said, “I think it’s pretty obvious what happened here, don’t you agree?”

Draco nodded, “Pretty open and shut case if you ask me, yeah.”

“He’s stable,” Clara said, “Can we clean up the blood?”

“No, it’s evidence,” Harry replied.

Aiden hunched down and said, “Fancy telling us what happened here, mate?”

The man who had just been patched up by Clara and Lucille, sputtered, “He was stealing from the bank, wasn’t he?”

“So you were just a concerned citizen?” Harry asked, raising an eyebrow at the man.

“Yeah,” The man said, nodding fervently, “And then he ended up dead somehow. It was self-defence man; he tried to chop off my arm!”

Oliver rolled his eyes, “These people must think we’re stupid.”

Aiden nodded in agreement, “You’re under arrest, mate.”

“What?” The man asked as he scrambled to his feet, “Why?”

“Because you killed this guy,” Draco said, pointing to the victim at their feet, “And it wasn’t in self-defence.”

The man’s eyes filled with panic and he turned on his heel to run out of the narrow close onto Diagon Alley.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you!” Clara called after him, “I just gave you a shot of powerful pain potion, which has a sedative effect!”

“I don’t think he’s listening to you,” Aiden said, cocking his head at the fleeing man.

Harry and Draco moved to the edge of the close.

“How far do you reckon he’s going to get before he hits the ground?” Lucille asked.

“There’s not much of him, he won’t make it past Eeylops,” Harry replied.

“He’s high on adrenaline; he might just make it to Ollivander’s,” Draco mused.

“He definitely won’t get as far as CPS though,” Oliver finished.

Clara smirked, “Three…two…one…”

The victim collapsed, and a few bystanders screamed in alarm.

“Go get him, boys,” Clara smirked before she walked off with Lucille.

“He’s a murderer, so this one is on you,” Aiden said, shooting Harry a grin, “Whose turn is it to buy lunch, Ollie?”

“Yours, you lost the bet about Gibson’s Vegas marriage lasting for longer than a week,” Oliver returned.

Harry shook his head in amusement and said, “I’ll get him. Draco, you catalogue the evidence behind the bank and move our victim to the morgue. It’s an open and shut case in terms of who killed him, but we still need evidence and a confession.”

“Got it,” Draco said with a nod as Harry began to walk away, “Oh, by the way, are you okay with us having a Halloween party at the castle?”

“Go for it!” Harry replied, walking backwards so he could talk to Draco, “But don’t expect me to dress up!”

Draco grinned, “Daphne won’t give you a choice!”

“I’m my own man; Daphne doesn’t make my decisions for me!”

Draco snorted in amusement as Harry jogged over to the downed suspect. He walked behind the bank and said to himself, “He’s going to come in costume.”

* * *

In the Homicide Office later that day, Theo announced, “We’re having a Halloween party!”

Harry shot Theo an amused smile, “Cool announcement. Can you go back to your cupboard now?”

“Nah,” Theo said with a shake of his head, “Draco and I have a Halloween party to plan.”

“Well then maybe you should do that in your free time and spend your time at work actually working,” Harry suggested.

“Says who?” Theo joked.

“Says me, your boss, you know the Assistant Head Auror?” Harry returned.

“Sounds like someone is getting a bit bigheaded,” Theo said, grinning at Draco, “Do you think his head will fit out that office door, Draco?”

Draco chuckled and said, “We don’t need to work, Harry.”

Before Harry could ask him why he held such an opinion, Draco had tossed a piece of parchment his way. As Harry scanned its contents, Draco said, “The evidence at the scene all points towards Danny Russel, our fleeing suspect. He killed the vic, and once Ben and Terry get back from the hospital with his confession, the case will be closed.”

Harry rolled his eyes and looked back down at his paperwork.

“So what do you think Daphne will dress up as this year?” Draco asked.

“Do you think you’ll be able to convince her to cover up now that she’s had two kids?” Theo asked Harry.

Harry looked up and shot them a grin, “Honestly? No. She knows that she bounces back quickly after childbirth and I think she will want to show that off.”

“Like she does every year,” Draco remarked.

“You guys do this every year?” Jason asked.

Theo shook his head, “Not exactly. We always have a costume party in December. It’s a way of getting everyone in the party spirit before Christmas. But this is the first time we’ve done it for Halloween.”

“Right,” Jason said with a nod, “So what has your wife dressed up as in past years then Harry?”

Harry shook his head in amusement, “Last year she went as the devil.”

“That’s tame enough,” Owen said.

Theo snorted, “She wore a red latex catsuit.”

“Ah,” Owen said awkwardly.

Jason raised an eyebrow, “Pictures?”

“I’ll show you tomorrow,” Harry chuckled, “The year before that she had just given birth to Andrea four months before the party, and she went as Princess Leia from Star Wars.”

“At the risk of sounding like Owen here,” Jason cut in, “That sounds tame.”

“In the slave girl outfit,” Draco added.

“Woah, I definitely want to see pictures of that one. What did she go as the year before that?” Jason asked eagerly.

“Catwoman,” Theo replied.

“And the year before that she wore a leopard skin catsuit, she said she was some muggle pop star,” Theo said with a wave of his hand.

“And there’s no forgetting the first year we held the party,” Draco said, grinning at Harry.

Harry groaned, “Don’t.”

“Do,” Jason and Owen chorused.

“She went as a playboy bunny and managed to convince her best friend to do the same-” Theo began with a grin.

“I still have no idea how she convinced Lilly,” Harry cut in.

“-And _Harry_ here went as Hugh Hefner,” Theo finished with a wide grin.

Jason and Owen burst out laughing, and Harry rolled his eyes, “I hate you.”

Theo chuckled, “Nah, you don’t. What are you going to go as this year anyway?”

“Nothing,” Harry said dryly, “I’m not dressing up.”

“You say that every year and Daphne _always_ convinces you,” Draco pointed out.

Harry snorted, “You can’t talk. You wear the same Dracula costume every year!”

“So what? It’s classy; I like a classy costume!” Draco objected.

“It is pretty boring, though,” Theo pointed out, “Unlike me, I win the best costume prize _every_ year.”

“At your own party?” Jason asked through his laughter.

“I hate to say it, but that does kind of make it a lesser achievement,” Owen sniggered.

“Oi! I put a lot of thought into my costumes. Do you have any idea how much transfiguration had to go into my Paddington bear costume last year?”

“No,” Harry chuckled, “But I do remember how many times Hermione told you not to do it, having had bad experiences with part-transfiguration herself in the past. I also remember that you had to go to McGonagall for help because you had fur on your back for weeks afterwards.”

The office erupted into laughter again as Terry and Ben slipped in, looking incredibly bemused.

“What are we missing out on?” Terry asked with a raised eyebrow.

“We’re having a Halloween party at Blacknot Castle,” Draco told them, “You’re invited, with a plus one if you have one. We were just discussing some of the past costumes.”

“Mostly those worn by Harry’s hot wife,” Jason said.

Terry laughed, “Sounds legit. Do you want the good news?”

“Yes, I definitely want good news,” Harry said, sitting up a little straighter, “Did you get a confession?”

“We did,” Ben said with a grin, “And what’s more, _we_ don’t need to deal with the paperwork.”

“Why not?” Harry and Draco asked in unison.

“Because our suspect has this tattoo,” Ben said, holding out a photograph.

“And our vic had this one,” Terry said, holding out another photograph.

Harry laughed wickedly, “Hah! Yes! The Dragons and the Nundus? It was a gang killing!”

He grabbed the case file from Terry, “Which means this is Vice’s case! Oh, I’m going to enjoy this!”

Draco shook his head as Harry practically skipped from the Homicide Office across the hall to Vice, “By the way, do we have to invite Krum this year?”

“He’s your wife’s friend, so yes, we have to invite him,” Theo drawled as he wrote out a guest list.

“But he’ll just come with a stupid transfigured sharks head like he does every year,” Draco said with a roll of his eyes, “We get it! We were there! He transfigured his head into a sharks head and saved Hermione from the depths of the Black Lake, wow, he’s so cool, right? Eh, wrong! He didn’t even _mean_ to do it, he fucked up his attempt to fully transform into a shark, and now he’s wearing it as a fashion statement? Viktor Krum with his shark head and his Bulgarian accent, ugh, I can’t stand the man.”

“What do you have against Viktor Krum, dude?” Jason asked.

“Yeah, that does sound pretty cool,” Owen admitted.

“It wasn’t cool,” Draco said irritably, “He spent the year strutting around Hogwarts like some sort of male model. He wasn’t that good looking anyway, Cedric was more attractive than him.”

Ben nodded thoughtfully, “Yeah…I agree with that to be fair.”

“And as for what Draco has against him?” Theo said, “Viktor Krum spent our fourth year wooing Hermione Granger, and that was the year that Draco realised he had feelings for the Gryffindor princess.”

“Hermione could have done far better,” Draco muttered.

“Sadly, you were emotionally unavailable that year,” Theo joked, “So you spent the year pining after her instead.”

“I was a Malfoy, and Malfoy’s don’t pine!”

“I was only in first year and dude, you did. You pined so hard that year,” Ben snorted.

“Watch your mouth Benjamin, or I’ll wash it out with soap,” Draco huffed, “We’re not inviting Krum,” he added, pointing at Theo.

“You can have that argument with your wife,” Theo said, throwing a crumpled up piece of parchment at Draco.

“And you can piss off back to your closet. Maybe you’ll find Narnia if you look hard enough!”

Jason shook his head at Terry, “They’re like an old married couple.”

“Yep,” Terry agreed, “They always have been, get used to it now that Theo’s back in the department.”

* * *

“Do you think I have any right to keep my seat on the Wizengamot?”

The question took Neville by surprise. He looked up at Harry and caught his finger on the razor-sharp leaf of the plant that he had been tending to.

“Fuck,” He hissed under his breath as blood sprayed out of his finger.

“You’ve nicked a digital artery,” Harry said, whipping his wand out of his back pocket and muttering a spell in Latin. The gushing stopped, and Harry took Neville’s hand. He held it palm side up and examined the wound, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to catch you by surprise.”

Neville shook his head, “I wasn’t paying enough attention, don’t worry about it.”

“Stay still while I clamp it off,” Harry said, narrowing his eyes and casting a very precise spell.

“You’d make one hell of a Healer if you ever decided to give up the day job.”

Harry laughed when he heard Lilly’s voice floating into the greenhouse, “That being said, do you want to stitch it up? I don’t want to leave my best mate with a dodgy scar.”

Lilly chuckled and stepped inside, “What happened?”

“The razor tentacula caught me,” Neville said with a small smile, “Teaches me to introduce razor grass into the genetic make-up of a Venomous Tentcula I guess.”

“Yeah, why would you want to make a Venomous Tentacula any _more_ lethal?” Harry agreed.

“Because razor grass has a self-supporting growth form,” Neville explained.

Harry looked blank, “In English?”

Lilly chuckled as she took Neville’s hand out of Harry’s, “It relies on its own supportive tissues rather than a climbing habit to achieve vertical growth.”

“Oh, so it wouldn’t need help growing upright like the Tentacula does in its early development?” Harry realised.

“Exactly,” Neville said, “Enabling them to grow almost anywhere, rather than in specially made greenhouses like this one.”

“And that’s a good thing: why? Won’t they just take over the world like in Little Shop of Horrors?”

“No,” Lilly laughed, “Mainly because the sale of Venomous Tentacula Seeds is restricted and incredibly expensive to buy. What kind of hotshot Auror are you?”

“The kind that passes that kind of stuff over to the department for the regulation and control of magical substances,” Harry answered with a grin, “What do you think Lil, is he going to live?”

“He’ll be fine,” Lilly said as she stitched Neville’s finger up, “But what had you so distracted?”

“That would be my fault,” Harry admitted, “I asked him if he thought I had a right to keep my Wizengamot seat.”

Lilly raised an eyebrow at Harry, “What, so you think you get special treatment because you’re the chosen one?”

“No, I didn’t mean it like that,” Harry confessed, “Quite the opposite actually, but when I said it back there….it did kind of come out that way.”

“Yeah,” Neville agreed, “It did.”

Lilly opened up a first aid box that was attached to the wall of the greenhouse, and she wound a bandage around Neville’s finger, “All done.”

Neville smiled, “So what did you mean then, Harry?”

“I’m the saviour of the wizarding world,” Harry said as he picked up a curious bowtruckle, “And because of that, people respect me and admire me. They listen to what I have to say, and they put stock in that, even if I’m wrong. It’s a lot of pressure to bear.”

“Ah,” Lilly realised, “And you’re not sure if you can handle that pressure? Hence why you think that you shouldn’t run for the Wizengamot?”

Harry nodded, “I know I’ll get nominated _because_ I’m Harry Potter. But after that point, I can choose if I want to run or not, isn’t that right?”

Neville nodded, “Yes, but as your best friend and a person who cares a lot about the people in our world – I strongly recommend that you do run.”

Harry frowned, “Yeah?”

“Yes,” Lilly agreed, “The Wizengamot needs you, Harry.”

“The wizarding world needs you and the fact that you don’t think you should run means that you should. The fact that you don’t want the power means that you deserve it,” Neville admitted, “Our people need you to keep doing what you have been doing for years now.”

“Saving their arses?” Harry half-joked.

Neville shook his head and smiled warmly at Harry, “Giving them hope.”

Harry smiled too, “Thanks for having my back, Nev.”

Neville patted the side of his shoulder, “I told you, Auror partner or not, I’ve got your back.”

“But next time you need to have a chat like that with my husband, please don’t do it in the greenhouse,” Lilly teased, “He’s had enough injuries to last him a lifetime this year, don’t you think?”

“Definitely,” Harry chuckled, “Sorry, mate.”

“I’m all good,” Neville said with an amused smile, “But I think I might move Rand back a bit.”

“Should I even ask why his razor grass injected Venomous Tentacula is called Randy?” Harry asked Lilly.

Lilly shook her head, “I asked once, and now I find that it’s best not to.”

Neville raised an eyebrow at them, “If you’re going to be like that, you can get out of my greenhouse,” he joked.

“Gladly, I’m dying for a cup of tea,” Harry said with a grin, “How about you, Lil? Hit your caffeine limit for the day yet?”

“Nah, I still have one cup of tea left in me,” Lilly replied as they left the greenhouse together, “You can brainstorm baby names with me. What do you think of Ron and Michael for two boys?”

“Screw you, Lillian!” Neville called from the greenhouse.

Harry and Lilly burst out laughing as they crossed the grounds and headed into the kitchen of Longbottom House.

* * *

“You’re not really going to call them Ron and Michael, are you?”

Lilly laughed, “No, I was just winding Neville up. I would hardly name my kids after my ex-boyfriends.”

Harry put the kettle on, “Good, you had me worried for a second there.”

Lilly pulled a couple of mugs out of the cupboard, “Don’t worry, I have no idea what they will be called, but it won’t be that.”

“Have you guys discussed names at all?” Harry asked curiously.

“A little bit,” Lilly confessed, “But we don’t have anything definitive yet. I think we would both like to remember people that we love, so names like Dean, Frank and Alice have been thrown around.”

“But not Augusta?”

“Definitely not Augusta,” Lilly said under her breath, “Don’t tell portrait Augusta that though, she will be devastated.”

Harry chuckled.

“She keeps banging on about good traditional Longbottom names,” Lilly said with a roll of her eyes, “But I am not naming my kid Harfang.”

Harry choked out a laugh, “Yeah, I don’t blame you. How do you feel about your appointment? It’s soon, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Lilly sighed, looking at the calendar on the fridge. It was Wednesday today, and there was a large ‘X’ marked on the calendar on Monday.

“Is Neville going with you?” Harry queried.

“He is,” Lilly answered, “And everyone keeps telling me that it will be fine but…I’ve been on the flip side of these appointments before when I’ve had to cover for someone in maternity, and it’s not always good news.”

“It’s going to be fine,” Harry assured Lilly, “Everything is progressing nicely; you have nothing to worry about.”

“I might feel like that after Monday, but I don’t feel like that right now,” Lilly said with a shrug.

The kettle screeched, and Harry poured out the two cups of tea, “That’s fair enough, but don’t let yourself get ill with worry. Are you still on active duty?”

Lilly shook her head, “No, Clara took me off as soon as I told her that I was pregnant. I can see where she’s coming from, but I’m already bored with paperwork and minor injuries. It’s only a matter of time until they toss me into the training centre.”

“Better bored and safe than…the alternative,” Harry said bluntly.

“I know,” Lilly agreed, “It’s just hard, adjusting to a different pace of life. I suppose it’s a good thing, if I had to go straight from running headlong into danger to being a mum of twins then I would really struggle.”

“Exactly, you already see the positives,” Harry said with a grin, “Why don’t you spend your downtime running for the Wizengamot?”

Lilly snorted, “No way. I do not have the time or energy for that right now; otherwise, I might have considered it.”

“Daphne said something similar,” Harry admitted, “She said between the kids and the upstart of her and Bill’s new business, she doesn’t have the time to do it right now. I reckon in a few years you two will be hotshots up there with Hermione though.”

“Maybe,” Lilly said with an amused smile, “I think Suse will fight to keep her seat and Percy won’t want to give his up. That could be an interesting one.”

“They won’t let it affect their marriage, but I reckon you’re right,” Harry concurred.

“Hermione will be right up there,” Lilly said.

“Yeah, and Draco is already concerned about it,” Harry said, “He thinks it’s going to take away his manhood if she gets on the Wizengamot, and he doesn’t.”

“Yes, well, he is a drama queen,” Lilly pointed out.

“And you two are a pair of gossiping old witches,” Neville said, shooting them both amused looks as he stepped into the kitchen.

“Shh, you’ll ruin my reputation!” Lilly exclaimed.

“What reputation?” Harry and Neville echoed.

“Oh, screw you both!”

* * *

“Do you think we can work the old Victorian lift into the party?”

Draco, Sadie and Hermione all looked up at Theo with matching frowns on their faces.

“How do we work a lift into a party, exactly?” Hermione asked sarcastically.

“Involve it in our costumes,” Theo said with a grin, “Do you know what that lift reminds me of?”

Hermione shook her head, “Don’t say it.”

“Rocky Horror Picture Show!” Theo half said, half-sung.

“I hate Lillian Moon for getting you into that movie,” Draco muttered under his breath.

“Come on, guys, it’s a Halloween party,” Theo said eagerly, “We should have Rocky Horror-themed outfits!”

Sadie raised an eyebrow at him, “And who would we go as exactly?”

“Well, one of you could go as Columbia-”

“No,” Hermione said, straight off the mark.

Theo looked at his wife, “Sade? You’ve got the figure, and you know it.”

Sadie shot him an amused look, “ _You_ want me to go as Columbia basically, is that what you’re saying, Theo?”

“That’s definitely what he’s saying,” Draco said, kicking Theo’s feet off of the footstool by the fire and replacing them with his own.

Sadie chuckled as Theo lost his balance and almost fell off his armchair.

“Alright, I’ll go as Columbia,” Sadie conceded.

Theo grinned and sat up straight, “Hermione, you can go as Janet since you’re too boring to go as anyone else.”

“Boring?” Hermione asked irritably, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Too much of a prude to dress up all sexy,” Theo elaborated.

Draco knew exactly what Theo was doing, and he had to try his hardest not to smirk.

“I am not a prude!” Hermione exclaimed, “And I won’t go as Janet, it’s far too boring. I’ll go as Magenta.”

“You won’t have to do much to your hair to be fair,” Sadie teased, “Just leave it how it is when you wake up in the morning, and you’re good to go.”

Draco choked on a laugh and received a warning glare from Hermione.

“What are you two going to go as then?” Sadie asked to deflect the attention away from herself and Hermione.

“Yeah Draco,” Theo echoed, “What are you going to go as? You’re just as boring as Hermione.”

“I am not!”

“You wear the same Dracula costume _every_ year, love,” Hermione pointed out.

“It’s a nice costume, and I look good in it, I fail to see why I should change that,” Draco said dryly.

“Because this year the theme is Rocky Horror,” Theo said.

“I’m not going as anyone from that film, trust me,” Draco said distastefully, “Especially not Frank-N-Furter.”

“You don’t have the legs for Frank-N-Furter anyway,” Theo teased.

Hermione and Sadie couldn’t stop themselves from giggling at that comment, but Draco didn’t find it funny.

“Fine,” Theo said, biting back an amused smile, “How about Rocky? You’re blonde; you could pull it off.”

“I’m not walking around in gold hotpants all night,” Draco scoffed.

“Brad?” Sadie suggested.

“And look like Potter all night? I don’t think so,” Draco retorted.

“Eddie then?” Hermione said.

“No,” Draco said irritably, “He’s too much of a Gryffindor.”

“Fine,” Theo said, “Riff-Raff it is.”

Draco rolled his eyes in response, “Who are you going to go as?”

Theo grinned, “Oh if we’re doing this, I’m going to make sure we do it right. I am going to take full advantage of the Victorian lift.”

“Oh my god, you aren’t,” Hermione said in disbelief.

“He’s going to go as Frank-N-Furter,” Sadie said, shooting her husband a knowing look.

Theo’s grin was answer enough.

“Do me a favour and don’t invite my parents to this party,” Hermione remarked.

“Or my mother,” Draco added to laughter from Sadie and Theo.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	36. There's Always Been a Rainbow, Hanging Over Your Head

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is a lyric from the song:  
> Rainbow by Kacey Musgraves.
> 
> Sorry for the wait for the update but I have a few chapters coming your way now! :D

“Good morning,” Harry chirped when he walked into the kitchen of Potter Manor on Monday morning.

Daphne looked up at him, “You’re in a good mood today.”

“It’s the big day for Neville and Lilly,” Harry said with a shrug, “I’m nervous, but excited for them.”

“I hope they get good news,” Daphne said, biting down on her lip.

“Have faith,” Harry said, kissing her softly, “They will.”

“Dad, are you taking me to school today?” Teddy asked from where he was pushing his cereal around the bowl.

Harry looked up and smiled, “Yeah, kiddo. Is that why you aren’t eating your breakfast?”

Teddy nodded, “Side-apparition sucks.”

“Sucks,” Alastor giggled.

Daphne shook her head in amusement, “Don’t say rude words in front of your brother and sister.”

“Sucks isn’t a rude word, Mum,” Teddy complained.

“Sucks,” Andrea copied.

Daphne rolled her eyes, “I give up.”

Harry chuckled, “I know you don’t like it, Teddy. But until your Mum lets me build a flying car with Arthur, it’s the best we can do.”

“Even with a flying car, it would take three hours,” Daphne said disapprovingly, “And I can’t see either of you getting up 5.30 am to get to work and school.”

Teddy made a face, “That’s before the sun is even up!”

“Even in summer!” Harry agreed.

Daphne smiled at the similarities between them, “Exactly. Apparition is the fastest and easiest way. You will get used to it Teddy; it will just take a little while.”

Teddy huffed in response, “I miss Dads rock music.”

“Someone has to,” Daphne muttered under her breath as she shuffled Thea who was currently demolishing a bottle of milk in her arms.

Harry ignored Daphne’s remark and told Teddy, “I tell you what then, Ted. Next weekend, we’ll have a boys trip. Just you and I, we can go out for a drive, listen to some rock music and see what we discover.”

“Like adventurers?” Teddy asked eagerly.

“Exactly like adventurers,” Harry replied.

Daphne chuckled, “Grab your school bag, baby.”

Teddy looked at the clock, “But it’s not time to go yet.”

“I know, but your Dad needs to nip into Longbottom House before you head off,” Daphne explained, “It’s a big day for Aunt Lilly and Uncle Nev.”

“Fine,” Teddy complained, slinging his bag onto his back, “Bye Mum, love you.”

“I love you too,” Daphne called as he disappeared out of the door, “He’s a teenager before his time,” she muttered.

Harry laughed, “Yep, I love you.”

“I love you too,” Daphne returned with a smile.

Harry went through the ‘kiss and hug’ ritual with both Alastor and Andrea, then he kissed Thea on the forehead and shepherded Teddy out of the front door.

* * *

“I know you’re nervous, but you need to eat something,” Neville said, putting a slice of lightly buttered toast in front of his wife.

Lilly made a face, “No, I’m good.”

“Lilly,” Neville said sternly, “I’m not asking you, I’m telling you. You can’t go in for a full check, including blood tests, with nothing in your system. You’ll faint.”

“I am aware of what happens when you get low blood sugar, Neville,” Lilly said sarcastically, “I’m a Healer.”

“Yeah and right now, that’s the problem,” Neville said, sitting down opposite her.

Lilly frowned at him, “What?”

“You are thinking about your own pregnancy like a Healer, not like a mother. You are thinking about every possibility, about everything that could go wrong. It’s your responsibility to think like that about other people’s babies when you are their Healer. But right now, you are the mother of these babies and all you need to concentrate on is feeding them, drinking plenty of water, getting plenty of rest and helping me prep the nursery.”

Lilly swallowed, “But statistically speaking-”

“No,” Neville cut in, “No statistics. This is real life, not a lecture you’re giving to some newly qualified Healers about pregnancy. You know better than most of us that every pregnancy is different, so stop worrying until we have the facts in front of us.”

“Okay,” Lilly said simply. She caught Neville’s eye, “I mean you’re right, and I’m sorry if I’ve been a little…difficult, lately?”

“It’s okay,” Neville said with a slight smile, “I understand.”

He leant across the table to kiss her just as the backdoor opened and Harry walked in with Teddy in tow.

“I’m just here to wish you luck,” Harry said with a smile.

Lilly smiled back, “Thanks, the nerves are definitely kicking in this morning.”

Harry smiled and kissed her on the cheek, “It’s all going to be okay. Just have faith.”

“You sound like Neville,” Lilly admitted.

“Well when your husband and the saviour of the wizarding world are both telling you that it’s going to be okay, you should probably trust that it will be,” Neville teased.

Lilly chuckled, “I’ll send you a Patronus, or Neville will, once the appointment is over. I know you’ll be as worried about me as Neville is.”

“I appreciate that,” Harry said, hugging Neville briefly, just so that he could murmur, “If there is any bad news, you know that we are both right here.”

Neville nodded and pulled back from the hug.

Teddy was leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed while the adults had their conversation.

“What’s up with you, Ted?” Neville asked.

“I don’t like side-apparition,” Teddy replied.

“He misses living near London,” Harry said by way of explanation, “I used to drive him to school back then. But he’ll get used to it, and everyone else is enjoying the change of pace.”

“I liked Surrey,” Teddy huffed.

Harry rolled his eyes and put his arm around his son's shoulder, “Come on, your mum will kill me if you’re late for school.”

Lilly smiled sympathetically while Neville shook his head in amusement as Harry ushered Teddy out, “Good luck today!” he called before the door swung shut behind them.

* * *

Lilly’s heart was beating fast as she lay on a hospital bed in a scratchy white gown.

“Calm down,” Clara said softly, “Everything is looking good right now. Your bloods are fine, and your urine sample came back clean too. No signs of preeclampsia, high blood pressure or any of the other obvious things that tend to happen with twin pregnancies.”

Lilly took a breath, and Neville squeezed her hand.

“I’m just going to do a scan, and I’ll project the image so you can see exactly what I see,” Clara informed Lilly, “That way you can trust your own eyes, even if you don’t trust me.”

“Of course I trust you,” Lilly said honestly.

“Then stop being so touchy,” Clara said in jest as she began the spell. Neville found it both fascinating and creepy at the same time because it essentially made the skin on Lilly’s stomach transparent. Clara murmured a second charm which projected a black and white image of the babies onto the wall next to Lilly.

“Okay, so we have two babies and two strong heartbeats,” Clara said cheerfully, “Which is a brilliant first sign.”

Clara cocked her head and looked a little closer, “Huh…now that is interesting.”

“What is?” Neville asked.

“Because you got pregnant via IVF, I expected to see non-identical twins,” Clara admitted, “They implant several eggs knowing that it’s only likely for one or two of them to be viable. That would have meant two separate eggs – two separate babies in their own sacs with their own placenta.”

“But it’s not,” Lilly said, frowning at the image, “It’s identical twins, isn’t it?”

Clara nodded and pointed at the projected image, “It looks like only one egg was viable from the IVF treatment. That egg became an embryo and was implanted in the womb then it split in two, so it’s not the IVF that gave you twins, it’s just complete chance.”

“Or luck,” Neville said with a smile, “Depending on your point of view.”

Lilly rolled her eyes, “He romanticises everything, you know this, Clara.”

Clara chuckled, “Either way, these babies are sharing one placenta, but they have their own inner sacs which is a good sign. We are going to have to get you hopped up on vitamins to keep them nourished though, Lilly.”

Lilly nodded, “And I’ll need weekly appointments to make sure that they are both getting enough nourishment from the placenta, won’t I?”

“Yes, you will,” Clara agreed, “At the moment, they look a similar size which is a good sign. There are no signs of any congenital deformities either, so everything looks great.”

She cancelled out the charms and washed her hands, “But you are going to have to be prepared to go on bed rest at any point if it looks like the babies are struggling to thrive. And from 32 weeks onwards, if one of them starts to get less nourishment from the placenta, we will have to consider early delivery.”

Lilly nodded.

“That…” Neville frowned, “That all sounds bad.”

“It isn’t,” Lilly promised, “It’s just that when twins share a placenta, there is a chance that one of them gets more nourishment than the other so they can grow at different rates. And if that goes too far, one could end up having difficulties while the other could be healthy.”

“Which is why you are going to come down here every Monday at 9 am without fail,” Clara said simply, “I’ll keep an eye on them for you.”

Lilly smiled, “Thank you.”

“You’re not just my colleague Lilly, you’re my friend,” Clara assured the younger woman.

“I know,” Lilly said with a genuine smile, she felt lighter than she had in weeks.

“Time for the million-dollar question though,” Clara added, looking between Neville and Lilly.

Lilly knew what it was, but Neville didn’t.

“Do you want to know the genders of your babies?” Clara asked with a small smile, “I know I’m not supposed to dig deep enough to tell you this stuff, but they both have healthy magical signatures, and I do know what gender they are.”

“Do we want to know?” Neville asked Lilly, “I mean, do you want to know?”

“I’m a Ravenclaw and therefore a control freak,” Lilly confessed, “Of course I want to know what colour we should paint the nursery and what names we should be arguing over. But do _you_ want to know?”

“Yes,” Neville agreed, “I want to know.”

Clara’s smile widened, “You are going to have identical twin boys.”

Neville grinned in response, “Boys!”

“Two of them,” Lilly said with an amused smile, “That’s going to be hard work.”

“But well worth it,” Clara said, squeezing Lilly’s hand, “Get yourself changed back into your normal clothes and then go home and rest up before your shift tomorrow, okay?”

Lilly nodded, “Thanks, Clara.”

The older Healer left the room, and Neville looked at Lilly, “Are you okay? You’re not upset that its boys?”

Lilly shook her head and laughed, “No, I’m not Daphne. I could never be that mother that can whip out their wand and braid hair in minutes. I would be awful with advice when they became teenagers. I am very much a tomboy who would rather spend an hour in a greenhouse than out shopping. Boys are just fine.”

Neville grinned and pulled her into a hug, “I love you,” he said, kissing her lightly, “Don’t ever change.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Lilly promised.

* * *

“So then the puppy licked her face, and we all started laughing because she thought it was cute and she had no idea that it had just been eating the cat shit-”

The door to the Homicide Office burst open in the middle of Jason’s disgusting anecdote about why his last girlfriend had broken up with him.

They all looked up in surprise, and Harry’s heart raced when he saw Neville, “Is everything okay?” he asked immediately.

Draco frowned at Harry’s immediate assumption that something was wrong.

“Fine,” Neville promised with a smile, “I just need a word, in private.”

“Yeah, of course,” Harry said, shoving his chair back and getting to his feet, “Jace, fewer rank stories and more paperwork, please. I’ll be back in five,” he said, dropping a file in front of the Auror.

“Yes, sir,” Jason said, flipping open the folder.

Harry stepped out of the office and walked with Neville towards the back corridor, “Really Nev, is everything okay?”

“Yeah, it’s fine,” Neville said, “There is one thing that we need to keep an eye on, but Lilly isn’t worried, which puts my mind at ease.”

Harry nodded and shut the door behind them. He put up a silencing bubble, “What’s the thing?”

“The twins share a placenta which means that there’s a chance one can start to get more nourishment from it than the other which would make the babies develop at different rates and could cause complications for one of them,” Neville explained, “Clara is going to see Lilly every week, and she has warned her that she might need to go on bed rest at the drop of a pin and that an early delivery might have to happen after 32 weeks if one baby struggles to thrive.”

Harry nodded, “But it’s not an issue; it’s manageable?”

“Yeah, it’s manageable,” Neville said, a grin spreading across his face, “Our boys might be born a little early, but they will be just fine.”

Harry’s eyes widened, “Boys?”

Neville nodded, “Identical twin boys.”

Harry beamed and pulled Neville into a bear hug, “Congratulations!”

Neville laughed and hugged him back, “Thanks, we’re over the moon.”

“Course you are,” Harry said, his smile faltering ever so slightly, “Twin boys, that’s brilliant news.”

“Healthy twin boys,” Neville said, breathing out a sigh of relief.

Harry nodded; he remembered that feeling well. He opened his mouth to congratulate Neville again, but before he could, the alarm sounded.

_“Homicide, Organised Crime, Arson, Medic One, Trauma One: Unstable individual creating a dangerous situation at the reception of St. Mungo’s Hospital.”_

“What the hell was that?” Neville asked, looking around in alarm.

“The new alarm system,” Harry replied, pushing through the doors into the main department, “Theo installed it, pretty nifty idea, huh?”

Neville nodded, although he still looked somewhat bemused.

People were coming out of offices everywhere, so Neville hung back. Harry yelled loudly for attention then addressed everyone, “Homicide will deal with the individual. Organised Crime, get everyone out. Arson, put out the fire that this crackpot has obviously started. Let’s move out; let’s go!”

Neville moved aside as they all hurried towards the apparition point. He sighed and ignored the small tug of jealousy in his gut; he couldn’t put into words how much he missed that.

* * *

“Hey!”

Daphne looked up with a smile, “Hey! You’re in high spirits, does that mean that it went well?”

“It went well,” Lilly chirped as she made herself comfortable on the sofa in the drawing-room, “The twins share a placenta which could cause complications later on, but it just means that an early birth is on the horizon. I’ll be monitored weekly just in case though, so you were right, there wasn’t anything to worry about.”

“I told you,” Daphne said in a sing-song voice.

“Mama?”

Daphne smiled down at her daughter, “Hey Andie, are you okay?”

“Mama, hug?”

Daphne picked up the little girl and sat her down on her knee. Andrea cuddled into her and Daphne smiled over at Lilly, “You’ll have all of this soon.”

Lilly nodded, “Without the hair braiding, thank Merlin.”

It took Daphne a minute to work out what Lilly had just said, then she looked up in surprise, “You found out the gender?”

“Yes, we did,” Lilly replied.

“And you’re having boys?” Daphne asked, “Two of them?”

“Two of them,” Lilly chuckled, “It’s identical twins.”

“You are going to have your work cut out,” Daphne laughed, “In the best way possible.”

“I know,” Lilly said, smiling warmly at Daphne and Andrea, “We’re so happy.”

“You deserve it,” Daphne said, reaching across and grabbing Lilly’s hand, “You both deserve all the happiness in the world. You spend your lives helping other people; it’s about time you got your own good news.”

Lilly just nodded thoughtfully.

“Do you have any idea what you will call them yet?” Daphne asked curiously, “I know it’s early days and things can change but-”

Lilly scoffed, “You’re one to talk. Andrea was going to be called Norah, then Andromeda died, and you decided to honour her, which was a beautiful thing to do to be fair.”

Daphne hummed thoughtfully and ran her hand through Andrea’s jet black hair.

“And Thea was going to be called Cassandra then Theo ‘died’ and you decided to honour him,” Lilly finished, “Which was less honourable, especially considering how not dead Theo actually was.”

Daphne rolled her eyes, “Point taken.”

“All the same, Neville and I do have some ideas,” Lilly admitted.

“Are you going to share them with me?” Daphne asked eagerly.

“As long as you promise to keep it a secret from Harry,” Lilly said, fixing her best friend with a stern look.

“Done,” Daphne promised, “Tell me.”

“We wanted to honour people that we loved,” Lilly explained, “People who we’ve lost, you know?”

Daphne nodded.

“But I am also completely aware that without Harry, these babies would not be going to full term,” Lilly said honestly, “Especially given what we know about them sharing a placenta. It makes what Harry did even more important.”

Daphne smiled knowingly, “You’re going to name one of them Harry?”

Lilly nodded, “Or something close to it. We’ve discussed Harry, Harrison, Harris and Henry. But we want to keep it a surprise until they are born.”

“He’ll sob his heart out when he hears; you know that right?” Daphne asked. She looked a little teary, just talking about it.

“I know,” Lilly said with a smile, “The other ideas we have discussed are Frank, Dean, Jack, August or Augustus– thank Merlin we aren’t having girls because I could never have named a child Augusta.”

Daphne laughed, “They are all nice names, regardless of which ones you pick but honestly Lil, I’m so happy for you,” she said, hugging her friend as best as she could with the little girl that was sandwiched between them.

“Aww!” Andrea said, joining in with the hug and making both women laugh.

* * *

“Sorry, it took me so long to get down here,” Theo said as he jogged into the basement, “The Queen of Hearts demanded my hair braiding services!”

Hermione smiled in amusement, “Only your daughter would go as the villain from her favourite story, rather than the Princess,” she said to Sadie.

Sadie chuckled, “She didn’t want to be a Princess, she wanted to be the Queen.”

“She spends too much time with her Aunt Daphne,” Theo joked.

Draco chuckled too, “We called you down here because we have a Halloween present for you.”

“A Halloween present?” Theo asked, raising an eyebrow at them, “That’s not a thing.”

“It is this year,” Draco said, opening the door to the Potions lab.

Theo’s eyes widened in realisation when he walked in and saw a bubbling silver potion.

“Is that…”

“It is,” Hermione said with a warm smile.

“Why is it silver?” Theo asked, “It was blue in that old book.”

“It’s a sentient potion, like polyjuice,” Hermione explained, “That’s why it was so difficult to make. Draco had to imbue it with your false memories to tailor it to you. Once that has been done, the colour changes to reflect the pureness of the drinker's heart.”

“So silver is good?” Theo asked in surprise.

“Of course silver is good,” Draco returned, “And that shouldn’t come as a surprise, you are a good person, Theo. You have _always_ been a good person; you are the one who kept me on the straight and narrow when I kept veering into the shadows.”

Theo laughed weakly, “It was kind of like I was holding the lead of a dog who was trying to jump in the water. Voldemort was the water, you were the dog, and every five minutes I had to be like _no Draco, bad Draco, stay away from the dark side Draco, they don’t have cookies, it’s a lie!”_

Draco tried and failed to hide a grin as he punched Theo in the arm. Sadie just shot Hermione an amused look as the dark-haired woman shook her head in amusement.

“So it’s a one-shot thing then?” Theo asked the others.

Sadie nodded and touched his arm gently, “You take it once, and it will take up to a month to work. Every day, the memories should fade a little more until you remember them like a recurring nightmare; hazy and fuzzy with some of the details missing.”

Theo swallowed and nodded, “Thank you.”

Sadie hugged him, “We would do anything for you, Theo. You know that,” she murmured.

Theo hastily wiped his eyes, and the others pretended not to notice. Hermione poured the potion into a goblet and held it out to Theo, “It won’t taste nice so knock it back as fast as you can.”

“Words I never expected to come out of the Gryffindor princesses mouth,” Theo joked.

Hermione made a face at him, “You’re disgusting.”

Theo smirked then took a cautionary sip of the potion; he gagged instantly.

“I told you so,” Hermione said with a smirk.

“Alright, yeah, you’re very clever,” Theo remarked, “I’ll knock the rest back in one.”

True to his word, Theo chugged the potion then sat down on the floor, “I feel like I’m going to puke.”

“It’s an old, rare potion, baby,” Sadie said apologetically, “It was before the days of adding in ‘sweeteners’ to make it taste good.”

Theo nodded but said nothing, just in case he threw up.

“I’ll sit with him till it passes,” Draco told the women, “You guys had better finish prepping the ballroom for the party.”

“Alright,” Hermione said, kissing Draco on the cheek, “See you later.”

She slipped out of the room, and Sadie hovered in the doorway while Draco sat down next to Theo against the cold stone wall. Theo groaned when Draco put his arm around him; his stomach gurgled loudly to make it clear that it wasn’t happy with the substance that had just been poured into it.

“I’ll talk, you listen,” Draco said, “Hopefully that will keep your mind off the sickness.”

Theo gave a small nod.

“Ron asked me to go to a Quidditch game with him today,” Draco began, “ _Ron,_ Ronald Weasley. He sent me a letter at work asking if I would go with him because the Arrows were playing a friendly against the Canons and I quote ‘since we both support struggling teams, I thought we could go together’. _Struggling teams_?”

Sadie smiled and walked away, knowing that Theo was in good hands.

“The Arrows are not a struggling team! How dare he compare them to the Canons? I swear, if he asks me about it tonight I will hex his ginger arse into next week!”

* * *

“It looks good,” Hermione said excitedly.

The ballroom was draped in fake cobwebs, floating jack-o-lanterns hung everywhere, and there was a large table at the back of the room which was ready for the buffet to appear once the house-elves were finished cooking.

Sadie opened her mouth to agree, but then a ‘dinosaur’ jumped up in front of her and roared at the top of its, very human-sounding, lungs.

“Charlus Draco Nott!” Sadie snapped, “That is the 100th time today, and it is getting old!”

The ‘dinosaur’ pulled his mask off, “Sorry Mum,” Charlus said sheepishly.

Hermione bit her lip, “It was funny the first few times, Charlie. But 95 times too many, perhaps?”

“Sorry, Aunt Mione,” Charlus said, “I’ll go annoy Mina instead.”

“No,” Sadie called after him, “Do not annoy Almina! Can you please go and play with Ella? She could do with some help building that tower.”

Charlus smiled and nodded, “Okay, Mum,” he said.

“Well-played,” Hermione commented as Charlus jumped into the playpen where Elladora was playing. She was dressed in a yellow ball-gown, and Hermione had done her hair so that she looked like Belle from Beauty and the Beast, Hermione’s favourite fairytale.

“What are you dressing Caspian as?” Sadie asked curiously.

“Baby Dracula,” Hermione said, shooting Sadie a smile, “Draco is just getting him ready at the moment then he’s helping Theo into his costume.”

“Oh, sweet Merlin,” Sadie muttered.

“Lilly will be there too,” Hermione chuckled, “To make sure Theo gets it right.”

Sadie shook her head and looked up at the clock, “We ought to start getting ready ourselves, don’t you think?”

Hermione checked the time - the party did start in an hour, “Yes, I suppose so.”

“I’ll call an elf up to watch the kids,” Sadie said with an easy smile.

The flippant nature of the comment annoyed Hermione a little, but she kept her mouth shut. The last thing she wanted to do was start an argument on the day of the party.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	37. I See You Shiver With Antici...pation!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note - the Halloween party is a huge ass event and takes up about three chapters so I'm going to fire them all up at once. Be warned - it's dramatic!
> 
> (Also, the chapter title is a quote from Rocky Horror Picture Show!)

The first guests to arrive at Blacknot Castle for the Halloween party were the Potter clan.

Draco raised an eyebrow at Daphne, “Does a catsuit always have to be involved? And the green hair suits you, Potter.”

Daphne shot Draco a long-suffering look, “We’re the Joker and Harlequin, jackass.”

“Who?”

“Characters from comic books,” Hermione explained as she surveyed the couple in amusement. Harry was wearing a purple suit with a green shirt and yellow vest. He had also temporarily dyed his hair dark green.

“Are you wearing lipstick?” Theo asked Harry with a grin.

“Daphne said it was part of the costume,” Harry muttered. His face was paler than usual, and it looked like he was wearing red lipstick.

“Not dressing up my arse,” Draco said, shooting Harry a grin.

Harry just glared at his Auror partner in response.

Daphne was wearing another catsuit. This time it was red and black chequered and skin-tight, she also wore a black eye-mask and a joker style hat. To top it all off, she wore knee-high, black stilettos.

“Dad, can we play?” Teddy asked, interrupting the adults' conversation.

“Oh, of course, Ted,” Harry told the little boy, who was dressed as Peter Pan.

“The kids are in the library,” Hermione told Teddy with a smile, “We made it into a Halloween playroom of sorts.”

“Awesome!” Teddy said, “Come on, Al.”

“Hey,” Daphne interrupted as Teddy grabbed Alastor’s hand, the younger boy was dressed up as Spiderman, “Take Andrea too.”

“Okay,” Teddy agreed, “Come on, Andie.”

Andrea looked adorable in a Snow White costume. She had pale skin and jet black hair, so she looked the part.

While Teddy led the two toddlers towards the children’s area, Draco cocked his head at Harry and asked, “Why is your son wearing tights?”

“I told you _he_ would ask that,” Daphne scoffed.

Draco raised an eyebrow.

“He wanted to go as Peter Pan,” Harry said simply, “The kid can wear tights if he wants to wear tights. Who are you to judge? You snog your best mate.”

Draco rolled his eyes in response.

Daphne bit back an amused smile and asked, “Speaking of which, where is Theo?”

“Still getting ready,” Sadie replied.

Daphne frowned and looked more closely at the other three, “What are you guys dressed as?”

“People from the Rocky Horror Picture Show,” Hermione answered.

“It wasn’t my idea,” Draco pointed out.

“I believe that,” Daphne said with a smirk, “Who are you?”

“Riff-Raff,” Draco answered.

“The caretaker? No wonder you look kinda like Filch.”

“I take offence to that Potter!”

Thea, who was adorably dressed as Tinkerbell shifted in Daphne’s arms.

“Shh,” Daphne hushed them.

Draco did look a little like Filch, in all fairness. He was wearing a ragged old black suit with a white shirt which was unbuttoned too much for Harry’s liking. He looked older because he had transfigured his hair so that it was longer, but also balding in the middle.

“Why are you standing like that?” Harry asked with a snort.

“Because he’s a hunchback, leave him alone,” Hermione joked.

Daphne snickered, “And you’re what, his maid?”

“Not _his_ maid, just _the_ maid,” Hermione corrected, “I’m Magenta.”

“Uh-huh,” Daphne said with a knowing smile, “And from what I know about your sex life, I bet you didn’t even have to buy the maid outfit, right?”

Hermione’s cheeks flushed, and Harry grimaced, “Too much information.”

Hermione looked much the same as she usually did before her morning glamour charms were applied. Her hair was as bushy as it had been in her teenage years, but it was redder than usual. She wore heavy makeup which was out of the ordinary for her, but she looked good in the costume.

“And I am-”

“Hot?” Daphne filled in for Sadie.

Sadie shot her friend a smile, “I was going to say Columbia.”

“But if the shoe fits?” Daphne joked.

Sadie laughed, “I’m honoured, but you do kind of have a thing for redheads so...”

The others had a laugh at Daphne’s expense over that comment. It was a long-running joke ever since Lilly had put her hair back to its original red only to be snogged by Daphne in Paris.

But Daphne wasn’t wrong, Sadie did look good in the costume. Her hair was bright red and much shorter than usual. She was wearing a sequinned multi-colour corset, striped hotpants and a golden sequinned tailcoat.

“Speaking of your redhead, where is she?” Harry asked Daphne.

“She was helping Theo get ready,” Daphne said, “His costume is elaborate.”

“Yeah, sounds like Theo,” Harry said nonchalantly.

Before any more could be said, Neville and Lilly walked into the ballroom.

“Neville, you can’t come dressed as a Herbology Professor!” Draco objected.

Sadie frowned, “Why are you wearing glasses?”

“And holding a plant?” Draco added.

“Because I’m not dressed as a Herbology Professor,” Neville replied. He did look the part in brown chinos, a dirt-stained white shirt and a dark brown waistcoat. He was also wearing old-fashioned brown rimmed glasses, and he was carrying a genuine baby Venomous Tentacula in a pot.

“I’m Seymour, from Little Shop of Horrors,” Neville said as if it were obvious, “Lilly is Audrey, and this is Audrey III.”

“Shouldn’t it be Audrey II?” Hermione asked with a frown.

“Technically, yes,” Neville agreed, “But the big one in the Hogwarts Greenhouse is Audrey II, so this is Audrey III.”

“Why do you look like you’ve been beaten up?” Daphne asked Lilly matter of factly.

Lilly was wearing a black dress which was loose around her middle – purposefully so. She also had her arm in a sling, and it looked like she had a black eye. Her hair was shorter than usual and platinum blonde too.

“Because my psycho dentist boyfriend beats me up,” Lilly said matter of factly.

Draco looked at Sadie who just shrugged in response.

“The blonde hair kind of suits you,” Harry commented.

Daphne shot Harry a warning glare.

“What? I was just saying!”

“That you like blondes?” Daphne remarked, “Yes, we are aware of that.”

“You are literally the only blonde I’ve slept with, or even kissed for that matter,” Harry muttered under his breath, “You’re so territorial.”

“Territorial?”

“Oh, here we go,” Hermione mumbled, shaking her head at Draco and Sadie.

Thankfully, before the argument could get underway, the rest of the guests began to arrive. John and Rob came together along with the Weir sisters. Nick dragged himself into the room, dressed as Captain Hook and Natasha bounded in dressed as Minnie Mouse.

“The kids are in the library, Nick,” Harry told Rob’s son, “And Teddy is dressed as Peter Pan.”

“Sweet!” Nick grinned, “I can attack him!”

Rob snorted, “Go get him, kid.”

Jennifer rolled her eyes, “Don’t condone violence, Robert or are you forgetting that you’re an Auror? Nicky, wait! Take your sister.”

Nick sighed heavily, “Fine. Come on, brat.”

“Nicholas,” Jennifer warned.

Nick crossed his arms, “You’re not my mum.”

“No, but I am your dad, and I am telling you to quit being a diva. Take your sister with you, now,” Rob said sternly.

Nick huffed some more but took Natasha’s hand and led her towards the library anyway.

“Hey Rob, can you help me out with something?” Harry asked.

Rob nodded and walked across the room to one of the large windows with Harry. They looked into the library together where the kids were all playing.

“So you haven’t told him you’re not his biological father yet?”

Rob shook his head, “I know I need to before he goes to Hogwarts, and I know that time is running out, but I just…I don’t know how to.”

“It was different for me,” Harry admitted, “With Teddy, I had to tell him early because we have a portrait of his biological father in our drawing-room, one that he talks to frequently, so we had to explain to him when he was young. With Al, he’s sort of always known. It has never been a secret because Teddy knew. So Al knows that we found him and we brought him home because we loved him. It’s different for you, though, isn’t it?”

Rob nodded, “I’ve always been there. I was there for his mum before he was born and I’ve been there every day since. He has no idea I met her when she was pregnant, he has no idea about the kind of person his birth father was, and I don’t want him to know. I want to shield him from that forever.”

“I know you do,” Harry said, he reached out and grabbed Rob’s arm, “But one day he will find out, like Lucia did, and finding out that people you love have lied to you for your entire life…speaking from personal experience here, Rob, that changes a person. It changed me, and it made me doubt every supposedly good thing that Dumbledore had ever done for me. You do not want your kid to feel that way about you. He needs to know, but he needs to know that although it’s not by blood, you are his dad. You were there when he was born; you did the sleepless nights, you raised him. The other guy? He was scum, worthless scum and he died in Azkaban three years ago. _You_ are his dad.”

Rob breathed in deeply, “Thank you.”

Harry smiled, “Your welcome, but I must admit – it’s hard to have a serious heart to heart with you while I’m dressed like this, and you are…Han Solo?”

Rob laughed, “Yeah.”

“I thought you would have gone as Chewy instead, Wolfie,” Harry teased.

“Hah, hah,” Rob said dryly, “Did you see Jen? I convinced her to go as Princess Leia. Just not in the same get-up that your wife wore a couple of years back.”

“That was a solid Daphne Greengrass move if ever I saw one,” Harry said with a chuckle, “Although I do feel like you should be dressed as Spock.”

Rob frowned, “Why?”

“Because John is Captain Kirk,” Harry said with a grin. John was dressed in black trousers and a yellow star trek shirt.

Rob snorted, “He’s not one for dressing up, he thought it was an easy option.”

“Who is Liz meant to be?”

“One of his conquests,” Rob said with a grin, “You should have heard _that_ argument.”

Harry snorted, “I can imagine.”

“I’m gonna check on Nat,” Rob said, patting Harry on the shoulder and heading to the library.

Harry turned back to the others just as Ron and Felicity walked in. Harry grinned and bounded towards them, “Batman, my greatest nemesis!”

Ron grinned, he was wearing a very convincing Batman costume, and Felicity was a female Robin. In a double pushchair, Gideon and Fabian wore Batman and Robin onesies.

“Joker,” Ron said in a stupidly deep voice, “We meet again.”

“Oh sweet Salazar,” Daphne muttered, catching Felicity’s eye, “I need wine if this is how the night is going to go. Do you need wine?”

“I definitely need wine,” Felicity replied.

“Harry, just don’t get too-” Hermione began to say.

Then Harry lunged at Ron with a toy knife and stabbed him in the chest. The blade pushed into the handle, but Ron pretended to recoil in pain then swung a fake punch at Harry.

“-silly,” Hermione finished, although she knew it was futile now and it still brought a smile to her face to see Harry and Ron acting like the boys she had met over ten years ago.

Thankfully, the play fighting came to an end when Bill and Lara walked into the ballroom with Victoire and Charlie in tow.

“Woah, no fighting in front of the kids,” Bill joked with a wide grin.

“Sorry Vic,” Harry said, scrambling up to his feet and looking at the blonde girl, who was currently giggling and appeared to be dressed as a princess of some variety.

“Sorry Charlie,” Ron added, grinning at his brother.

Charlie rolled his eyes, “I might be divorced and living with my big brother, but I am still a functioning adult and father.”

“Father?” Harry asked with an amused smile.

“Of dragons,” Daphne clarified.

“My ex-sister-in-law got it in one,” Charlie remarked.

Daphne shook her head, “Just call me Daphne.”

“Yeah, it’s probably easier,” Charlie agreed, “What do you think of my costume?”

“Nice,” Harry said appreciatively, “You’re Godric Gryffindor, right?”

“Yeah!”

“I think it’s a little over the top, personally,” Bill remarked with a shrug.

Daphne crossed her arms and smirked at her boss, “Says the guy who couldn’t have played it any safer if he tried?”

“Yeah, she’s got a point,” Ron admitted, “I know you’re meant to be Indiana Jones, but you just look like you did when you worked in Egypt.”

“Just without the dragon hide trousers,” Charlie and Lara said in unison.

Charlie made a face, “I’m so disgusted that we just made the same comment, _in unison,_ that I need to go to the free bar to find a cure.”

Bill shot Lara an apologetic look as Charlie walked away, “I’ll find him his own place soon, I promise.”

“You better,” Lara said, and she looked far more intimidating than usual in the Lara Croft costume that she was wearing.

The group all dispersed as the ballroom began to fill up. Howard Abbott came dressed as Merlin and apologised for Hannah’s absence. He did bring his ward, Nina, with him though and Harry thought her costume was great.

“Wicked costume, Nina Frost!”

Nina grinned, “Thanks, Harry! I’m Death, or the Grim Reaper. I guess they are the same person though, right?”

Harry nodded, “Right, and your costume is so accurate by the way.”

“You mean like from pictures in books?” Nina asked.

Harry shook his head and knelt to her level, “No, I met Death, and you look just like him. Well actually, that’s not true, you are a little shorter.”

Nina giggled, “Harry, I know I’m a kid, but I’m not stupid. You didn’t meet Death, funny story though!”

Harry smiled slightly and pulled her hood back up, “Yeah, I guess it is. Wanna head on through to the library? Last I saw Nick was chasing Teddy around with a sword.”

“Cool!” Nina said and, without another word, she dashed off in that direction.

George and Angelina made a scene when they arrived too. They were dressed as Gomez and Morticia Adams, and Roxy made an incredibly cute Wednesday. But the part that had everyone crowding around them was the hand.

“Is that a real hand?”

“How is it moving?”

“Are you controlling it?”

“Did you go to a morgue and harvest body parts?”

George, being George, didn’t answer a single one of their questions seriously as the amputated hand sat on his shoulder, occasionally jumping, pointing or waving.

Oliver and Katie arrived as the fascination with the hand was unravelling and Frederick, who seemed to be a ninja turtle, was immediately at his Uncle George’s side asking questions.

Katie, who was dressed as Belle, shook her head at Oliver, who was dressed as Gaston, “He’s just like his Dad.”

“You don’t always have to make that out to be a bad thing,” Oliver murmured, “His Dad is a good person.”

“He’s not an Auror who saves the world,” Katie whispered.

Oliver smiled, “I don’t save the world, I leave that to the big guns that host parties like this. And Ron doesn’t save the world either, but he makes a hell of a lot of people who are in it a hell of a lot happier than they were before. He hasn’t always been one, but he’s a good guy now Katie, and he’s a good dad to Freddie.”

Katie opened her mouth to argue, but before she could, Frederick spotted Ron, “Dad, you’re Batman!”

“Single coolest sentence I’ve ever heard, buddy!” Ron said with a grin as he hi-fived his son.

Katie sighed and shot Oliver a pointed look, “He’s a great friend to Freddie, yes. But at some point soon, he’s going to have to learn how to be a Dad.”

Oliver didn’t argue that he just looked away from Katie and said to his son Noah, who was dressed as a dead Quidditch player, “The kids are all playing in the library, kiddo.”

The three-year-old took off for the makeshift playroom, and Oliver looked down at their six-month-old, Jessica, who was in a ladybug onesie, “She’s out like a light.”

“She’ll never sleep through the night,” Katie joked, smiling down at their daughter.

“You wanna know a secret?” A familiar voice asked, “They never do.”

Oliver laughed and turned around, “Sorenson, nice to see you looking so lively again! How are you feeling?”

“Like I should have dressed as the Phantom of the Opera tonight,” Sorenson joked, sweeping his hair over to cover the burns on his face.

“But I told him that it was a little too soon to be mocking his injury,” Clara, who was bright green, explained.

Sorenson shrugged, “Is it ever too soon?”

Oliver laughed, “Less than a month since you got back to work? Definitely too soon.”

“And dare I ask, why are you so…green?” Katie asked Clara.

“I’m Elphaba,” Clara said with a smile, “You know, the Wicked Witch of the West, from the Wizard of Oz?”

Katie and Oliver both shook their heads.

“Elphaba and Fiyero!” Hermione’s voice said as she drifted over to them, “What cool costumes!”

“Thank you, Hermione,” Clara said with a wary look, knowing that she would get dragged into a conversation or debate about the book and the broadway show, no doubt.

The Aurors all seemed to appear around the same time. Aiden showed up with a very convincing Jack Sparrow costume, and Ophelia and Evan came as Anthony and Cleopatra. The homicide team arrived together, and Harry wasn’t the only one who chuckled when he saw Ben and Dan’s costumes. They had come as Ash and Pikachu, but Ben was the one in the Pikachu suit, which was what made the whole thing so hilarious. Jason and Terry had come in matching costumes too, although they didn’t understand the symbolism of that at first.

“You two coming out of the closet, or what?” Neville joked.

“What?” Jason frowned.

“Maverik and Goose,” Harry said pointedly, “Top Gun, the movie is like a gay symbol.”

“What?” Terry said in disbelief, “No, it’s not; it’s a bro movie.”

“Yeah, we’re bros,” Jason, who was Goose, re-iterated.

“Uh-huh,” Neville said unconvincingly, “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Jason rolled his eyes, “It’s a bro film, _bro_.”

As the group dispersed, Harry whispered to Neville, “It’s totally not a bro film, _bro_.”

Neville grinned mischievously in response, “I’ll let you explain that to them when you next get a quiet day in the office.”

Owen tagged along behind the rest of them, and Harry expected he felt a little uncomfortable being here because of his family history with Sadie’s father. Luckily, there was someone on hand to put him at ease straight away. Owen was dressed as Luke Skywalker so; naturally, Rob started a lightsabre fight with him.

“Dude, why do you even have a lightsabre?” Owen asked as the fake lightsabres clashed and buzzed, “Han Solo isn’t a Jedi!”

“I don’t care rookie; lightsabres are awesome!” Rob replied.

Jennifer rolled her eyes and looked sideways at her sister, “I think he’s worse than the kids, I honestly do.”

“He’s definitely worse than the kids,” Elizabeth agreed, although she was smiling at the scene before them.

The Zabinis arrived next. Blaise and Blanche were the men in black, and Hope was Lilo, complete with a convincing ‘Stitch’ who was actually Ginny’s poor cat, only Merlin knew who they had turned it blue.

“Who are you, Gin?” Ron asked his sister.

“Honestly, I forgot all about the party, so I invented this half an hour,” Ginny shrugged, “I’m Kim Possible, she’s a character in this muggle show that Hope watches when she goes for sleepovers at Lupin House.”

Ginny’s costume was basically combat trousers, boots and a t-shirt. However, before Ron could insult her too much for her lack of creativity, someone else walked into the ballroom.

Caroline was dressed as Rowena Ravenclaw, and she looked wary. Edith, her seven-year-old daughter, clung onto her hand - she was dressed as Tiger-Lily.

Harry and Ginny both spotted Caroline’s uncomfortableness and approached her at the same time.

“Hey, you look nervous,” Ginny said, reaching Caroline first.

Caroline smiled, “Ginny, hi! It’s nice to see a familiar face from Lupin House.”

Ginny returned her smile, “Don’t come to these things that often, huh?”

Caroline shook her head, “I get invited, but I usually pass. After the year we’ve had though…I thought it would be good for Edie.”

At that point, Harry reached them, “Hey! Edith, right?”

Edith nodded shyly.

“I love your costume,” Harry said kindly, “My little boy is in the library through there with a bunch of his friends. He’s dressed as Peter Pan, and his best friend is Captain Hook, I think they might need a damsel in distress to complete their game.”

Edith looked up at her mum, “Can I go, Mum?”

“Of course you can,” Caroline replied, “I’m just through here if you need me, okay?”

Edith nodded and walked over to the library, looking back at least three times at her mum on the way.

“She’s a good kid,” Harry said, looking up at his colleague.

“Yeah, she is,” Caroline agreed, “But she’s a nervous one. She hasn’t had much stability in her life; the one solid thing has been me, so she clings to me.”

“I get it,” Harry promised, “And if you need to go home early, nobody will think any less of you.”

“Thank you, Harry,” Caroline said genuinely.

Harry nodded, and his attention was drawn away when the stragglers came into the ballroom. Susan and Percy were Rose and Jack from Titanic and four-year-old Addison was Chucky.

“Oh, I have got to get in on this,” Harry said with a grin.

Ginny shook her head, “He’s a child,” she said to an amused Caroline.

Harry sprinted over to the couple and said, “Nice costume, Addie!”

“Thanks, Uncle Harry!”

“The kids are in the library,” Harry said, rustling her hair as she ran across the room.

“In a room full of princesses, your kid is a demonic doll,” Harry said, grinning at Susan.

“Go figure, right?” Susan responded.

“It reminds me of those creepy dolls in family planning week back in the eighth year,” Harry said with a shudder, “Who did you have a kid with again?”

Susan grimaced, “Anthony Goldstein, don’t remind me.”

Harry snickered, “You guys are Rose and Jack, right?”

“Yeah,” Susan shrugged, “We usually do silly costumes, so we thought we would be romantic this year.”

“Romantic?” Harry snorted, “She leaves him to freeze to death in the middle of the ocean!”

“See?” Percy said to Susan, “They could have both fitted on that door, right?”

“Totally,” Harry replied.

Susan shook her head, “We’re not having this argument again, Percy!”

Percy opened his mouth to continue the argument, then Viktor Krum walked in with the head of a shark.

“Draco called it,” Harry said with a shake of his head as he looked across the room to where Draco was gritting his teeth.

“Does he still hate Krum?” Susan asked with a snort, “After all these years?”

“Even Ron’s gotten over it,” Percy joked.

“Ron didn’t marry Hermione, Draco did,” Harry said with a chuckle, “So I guess – holy shit.”

The others noticed why he had cut himself off mid-sentence. Luna and Rolf had just appeared in heavily transfigured costumes, which made it clear that Luna was the Statue of Liberty – that in itself wasn’t too weird to those who knew Luna. She was grey, she held a torch, and she looked a bit wacky. But her husband Rolf, who was just as weird and loveable as she was, seemed to be Mount Rushmore because he had three false heads.

“Wow,” Susan uttered.

“I don’t think Theo’s going to win the best costume this year,” Percy remarked.

“We haven’t seen Theo’s costume, to be fair,” Harry pointed out.

“Isn’t he here?” Susan asked.

Harry shook his head, “Apparently his costume is elaborate, and it requires a big entrance.”

“What is he dressed as, the bloody Queen?”

“I hope not,” Harry smirked, “But either way, we’ll find out soon. The only person who isn’t here is Astoria who didn’t RSVP and probably won’t show up.”

“Yeah,” Susan sighed, “I heard about her and Charlie’s divorce. Regardless of their reasons, it’s a shame. They were nice together for a while.”

“Yeah, they were,” Harry agreed.

As if on cue, all of the lights dimmed, and music began to play. Harry turned around and caught Daphne’s eye as a whirring sound was emitted behind them.

“That’s the lift,” Daphne said.

“And that music is from…” Harry frowned, “Rocky Horror Picture Show, right?”

Daphne nodded and glanced over her shoulder at Lilly, “Oh sweet Salazar, please tell me he didn’t.”

Lilly grinned in response as the elevator stopped and the doors opened.

“Oh, he did,” Lilly said.

And before they knew it, Theo had stepped out in full drag as Frank-N-Furter while the music continued to play. He strutted out far too confidently for a man who was wearing high heels then he waved his hand, killing the music.

“Welcome to the first of many Halloween parties at Blacknot Castle!”

The room was full of laughter and applauding.

“You just had to open the party with a bang, didn’t you?” Hermione asked, with an amused smile.

“I can never unsee this,” Harry said, unable to stop looking at Theo, “I mean you’re wearing a corset and….suspenders…this is how Daphne dresses for date night, you’ve ruined it for me forevermore.”

“I am going to need so much firewhiskey to try and erase this from my memory,” Neville deadpanned.

Lilly nudged him in the side, “You’ve seen pictures of my Dad in that get-up, surely that was worse?”

“No, this is so much worse,” Neville said with a shake of his head, “This guy threw himself in front of an entrail expelling curse for me! And now he’s wearing high heels and fishnets!”

“You really do have the legs for it, to be fair,” Daphne mused.

“Thanks, Daphne,” Theo smirked, “It’s nice to be appreciated.”

Harry shook his head, “I mean to be fair, the costumes all make sense now. You’re Frank-N-Furter which makes Draco your handy-man, in whatever sense you want to take that. Hermione is your best friend who you have a sisterly relationship, and Sadie’s your bit on the side.”

“Don’t think I won’t curse you, Potter,” Sadie warned.

Harry raised an eyebrow at her, “With what wand?”

Sadie pulled her wand out of her corset and smirked, “This one.”

Daphne grinned proudly, “I feel like a proud mother, right now.”

Lilly chuckled in amusement, “Are we all over the fact that Theo can really pull off drag? Cause I have an announcement to make.”

“No,” Harry and Neville echoed.

“You two don’t need to be,” Lilly said offhandedly, “You already know the big news, but the others don’t.”

“Big news?” Hermione asked curiously.

Lilly nodded, “We have an announcement to make, Neville and I. Well and Harry and Daphne, because Harry kind of saved the day as always to make sure we actually got this far-”

“Lilly,” Daphne cut in, grabbing her arm gently, “You’re rambling.”

“Right,” Lilly said, nodding and catching her train of thought, “I’m pregnant, with twins.”

There was a stunned silence.

“It’s boys, they’re due in April,” Lilly continued, “It was a total shock, we thought the IVF didn’t work, but it did-”

“Congratulations!” Hermione and Sadie cut in, in unison.

They hugged her in turn, and Theo smirked, “I knew, obviously.”

“Did you?” Sadie asked sharply.

Theo recoiled, “Uh yes, I worked it out when I stayed there back when you and I were…you know?”

“When you were being an idiot who thought I didn’t want you?” Sadie finished.

“Yeah,” Theo admitted, “And I swore not to tell anyone so…sorry?”

“No, I get it,” Hermione said, “And I’m sure Sadie will too. It’s scary in those first few months when you don’t know if everything is okay but honestly, congratulations guys. Twin boys, that’s brilliant news.”

Sadie nodded, “It will be hard work, but worth it in the end.”

“When they are like three and they finally sleep through the night and have all their teeth,” Theo cut in.

Sadie smacked him on the arm, “Theo, not helpful!”

Lilly laughed weakly, “Thanks, guys.”

“What did you mean about it being thanks to Harry?” Hermione asked curiously.

“Well, the truth can come out now, can’t it?” Daphne asked Harry.

Harry nodded, “You all know that I used the Elder Wand to heal Neville then destroyed it, so I didn’t become a power-hungry maniac, right?”

They all nodded.

“But what you didn’t know is that I used it to cure Lilly of a condition that was causing her to miscarry early in her pregnancies,” Harry finished, “It was a big moment for us, Neville was in danger, we bonded. Right, Lil?”

Lilly smiled in amusement, “Yes, Harry, we bonded. And Neville and I are both very grateful hence why it’s _our_ announcement.”

“Thank Merlin for that, I half-expected you to say that the kids were Harry’s,” Theo joked.

“Do you think Harry would still be standing here with all of his limbs and appendages if they were his kids?” Daphne asked, raising an eyebrow at Theo.

“Good point. I remember how nuts you went when the sex plant made him kiss Lilly,” Theo said with a broad, and somewhat sinister grin.

“Lust spores,” Harry and Neville chorused.

“Now I expected to be corrected by the Herbology Professor,” Theo said, “But not by you too, Harry.”

“Surprisingly enough I did do some research on the things that made me kiss my best mates wife,” Harry remarked sarcastically, “And you look remarkably sinister when you smirk in that costume, for the record.”

“It’s scary how much you pull it off, actually,” Susan said, appearing behind Lilly.

“Did you hear the big news?” Neville asked, looking around at his old friend.

“Is it that Theo is finally out of the closet and has admitted that Sadie is his trophy wife?” Susan joked.

Sadie shot her a look, somewhere between amused and irritated, “Do you want to repeat that?”

Susan grinned, “Not really. I’m also guessing that it’s not the big news then?”

Lilly shook her head, “The big news is that the IVF worked. Neville and I are having twin boys in April next year.”

Susan grinned, “Awesome news!” she said, hugging Lilly and Neville in turn. Percy smiled a little enviously and said congratulations as well. Harry noticed the look that passed through the Weasley’s eyes and made a mental note to ask him about it later.

In fact, Harry would have pulled Percy over to the side for a word there and then since everybody was so busy congratulating Neville and Lilly that they probably wouldn’t have noticed. However, before he could do so, Susan put her foot in her mouth.

Draco said something rude and Susan responded with, “Watch it, Lucius Malfoy 2.0.”

Draco looked down at his costume, “What?”

Susan grimaced, “Sorry, I didn’t mean – it’s just the hair, sorry.”

Draco scoffed, “Fuck that; I’m getting changed,” he muttered irritably. Without another word, he pushed back a tapestry and stalked into a secret passageway.

“Sorry,” Susan said sheepishly.

“Don’t be, it was inevitable,” Harry said, handing Hermione a galleon, “And you won.”

“I told you he wouldn’t last longer than ten minutes,” Hermione smirked.

The others all sniggered at the exchange between the two friends.

* * *

Charlie felt like the worlds biggest third wheel. He was sitting at the bar with Bill and Lara, who were talking animatedly to Rob and Jen. He kept looking into the room where the kids were playing and smiling at their antics. With the way he felt right now, he figured he would be more at home in there than he was out here with all of these coupled up adults.

He was just thinking about how glad he was that Astoria wasn’t here, when someone tapped him on the shoulder.

Drawn out of his daze, Charlie put his whiskey glass down and turned around. Only to see the object of his thoughts standing behind him, “I thought you weren’t coming.”

Astoria smiled, “I didn’t decide until the last minute. Are you Godric Gryffindor? That’s fitting.”

Charlie nodded and looked at his ex-wife. She wore a blue and gold dress, her hair was long and white-blonde, and she had a…

“Is that a real dragon?”

Astoria smiled, “You’re the dragonologist; you ought to know.”

“Touche,” Charlie said, unable to stop himself from smiling, “She’s a she, and a baby.”

Astoria nodded, “Uh-huh, she’s a baby pygmy Welsh Green, and I don’t know why I told you that because you knew, obviously.”

Charlie frowned, “I thought I got all of the dragons in the divorce settlement.”

“I kept this one,” Astoria confessed, “I figured you wouldn’t miss one that had just hatched amongst all the others and it’s not like it was difficult to hide it.”

Charlie raised an eyebrow at her, “Please tell me how hiding a dragon was easy.”

Astoria smiled, “We were married for three years, Charlie. I did learn a thing or two from you, and…dragons, they were a big part of our relationship. I stole Echo because she was adorable and because I thought it would be nice to remember the good times every time I looked at her.”

Charlie looked at the little green dragon that was currently sleeping on Astoria’s shoulder and felt a sense of longing that he knew he had to beat down.

“I did make the right call, didn’t I?” Astoria asked, and for one second Charlie thought she was doubting her call to hand him divorce papers. But then she continued, “I thought a pygmy Welsh Green was the perfect choice for a travel companion. They don’t mind change, they are probably the most versatile dragon around, and they are the most docile so I should get through customs with her.”

Charlie forced a smile onto his face, “Yes, you made the right call. For someone who travels as much as you do, a pygmy Welsh Green is the perfect companion.”

“Good,” Astoria said, sitting down next to him at the bar, “Because I think she’s going to be the only one that I have for a while.”

“You’re…uh, taking a break?” Charlie asked with a frown.

Astoria nodded, “I think it’s for the best, don’t you?”

“If that’s what works for you, I guess,” Charlie shrugged.

Astoria laughed humourlessly, “So you haven’t been taking a break then?”

“Honestly, Astoria,” Charlie said bluntly, “I’ve been sleeping with a different girl, or guy, every night that I go out and get hammered in a bar to try and forget about you so no, I don’t think abstaining from sex is going to help me work through stuff so much. But if it works for you, go for it,” he finished by standing up and shooting her a wistful look.

Astoria stood up too and leant against the bar, “Well I’m here Charlie, and I miss you too-”

“No,” Charlie cut her off, “Don’t even make me that offer because I’ll say yes then we’ll wake up tomorrow and regret it all. A clean break needs to be just that, Astoria.”

Astoria sighed, “Okay.”

Charlie hovered for a second before walking away, “Who are you meant to be anyway?”

Astoria smiled sadly, “A character from a series of books that Daphne’s friend got me into. Daenerys Targaryen, the Mother of Dragons.”

“Fitting,” Charlie said. He smiled wryly then turned around, heading for the childish safety of the playroom.

Astoria sighed and turned back to the bar, where she found Bill looking at her disapprovingly.

“What?”

“What?” Bill echoed, “You sent him divorce papers then fast-tracked them so that it would all be over quickly then you show up here for one last hurrah? He’s trying to get over you, but he can’t do that if you keep coming back.”

Astoria opened her mouth to defend herself, but before she could, Bill got up and walked away.

* * *

“Watch out, Peter! Captain Hook is right behind you!” Charlie said when he walked into the playroom which had been decorated to look like a sunken pirate ship. It had ladders and ropes so the kids could climb up into it and wooden slides were coming off of it too.

Teddy (aka Peter Pan) spun around and jumped out of Nick’s (aka Captain Hook’s) way.

“I’ll get you for this Pan if it’s the last thing I do!” Nick yelled.

“Never!” Teddy yelled back, grabbing Edith (aka Tiger Lily’s) hand and saying, “Come on, if we fly fast enough, we can escape.”

Teddy jumped off the shipwreck with Edith, and they floated down to the ground.

“Oi,” Charlie said, “Edward Potter! No underage magic, young man. If your parents see that, they will flip.”

“Nah they won’t,” Teddy grinned, “Mum would go mental, and Dad would pretend to be angry but secretly be proud.”

Charlie knew it was the truth, but he told Teddy off all the same.

“Cool ship by the way,” Charlie added.

“Daddy built it,” Almina chirped.

“Is he good at building things then?” Charlie asked the twins curiously.

“Uh-huh,” Charlus replied, “If it’s wooden, but if its metal then Mum says he’s rubbish.”

Charlie chuckled, “That sounds fair enough. What do you make of your Dads costume?”

“He looks kind of pretty,” Almina shrugged.

“And weird,” Charlus said.

“Trust me, when you’re old enough, you can use it as blackmail,” Charlie joked, knowing fine well that the kids wouldn’t understand most of what he was saying.

Almina and Charlus looked at each other blankly then ran into the secret den in the cabin of the sunken ship.

Charlie figured he should probably go back into the main room and re-join the party, but before he could, a familiar voice called, “Uncle Charlie?”

Charlie turned around and smiled when he saw Victoire, “Hey Vic, it’s my favourite girl!”

Victoire, who was six, smiled, “I thought Auntie Tori was your favourite?”

“Nah,” Charlie said, kneeling next to her and another blonde girl, “You always have been. Why do you look so sad?”

Victoire shrugged, “Teddy and Nick aren’t playing with us.”

“They like her better,” The other girl said.

Charlie frowned and looked over as Pan and Hook fought over who would kidnap/rescue Tiger-Lily.

“Is this your friend, Vic?” Charlie asked.

Victoire nodded, “Uh-huh, Nina is my friend.”

“Well girls,” Charlie said, sitting down on the floor to talk to them, “I think the boys are more interested in her right now because she’s the Tiger-Lily in a game that they are very invested in. That’s the thing with us boys; we get far too obsessed with games, like Quidditch and chess. It takes a girl to make us realise that there is more to life.”

Nina frowned, “She’s not going to understand that, she’s only six.”

Charlie smiled, “What age are you?”

“I’m going to be nine next month,” Nina replied, “Same as Nick. That means I’m going to have to go to Hogwarts with him.”

“Ah well, you never know, if you’re lucky you won’t be in the same house,” Charlie said with a smile, “Don’t you like him?”

Nina shook her head, “He’s annoying.”

“He annoys everyone,” Victoire agrees.

“What about Teddy? Is he annoying?” Charlie asked the girls.

They both shook their heads.

“He’s kind,” Victoire replied.

“And sweet,” Nina added.

Charlie bit back an amused grin, so they were both pining for Tonks’ kid? Go figure.

“Well, I’m sure they will get bored of their game and hang out with you guys soon,” Charlie said, shoving himself to his feet and leaving the library through a secret passageway that led to an entrance at the other side of the castle. Having snuck around Hogwarts for years, he found it remarkably easy to discover secret places in buildings like this.

This entrance seemed to be the original one because the way out was through a hefty door that had to be lifted upwards. Charlie managed to shift it then he sat down with his feet dangling into a ditch that he assumed had once been a moat.

He lit up a cigarette, took a drag then looked up at the sky, “Dora, I don’t know if you can hear me. I don’t know if there’s a Heaven or whatever but if there is, I know you’ll be there. Your kid, Teddy, he’s only six years old, and he’s already breaking hearts. He’s got my niece and at least two other girls wrapped around his finger, go figure, right?”

Charlie took another drag and said, “And I miss you, by the way. If you were here right now, you’d make a joke about how I couldn’t hack the age gap in the relationship the same way that you did. You’d make it all okay, you’d say something and I’d stop feeling torn between running right back to Astoria and staying the hell away from her.”

The night was still, remarkably still considering that it was the end of October. Charlie took a third drag from the cigarette, a long one. He shut his eyes and blew out the smoke, then he opened them and said, “I miss you, Dora.”

Charlie didn’t believe in signs, he didn’t even believe in God or Heaven and Hell, but sometimes you just needed to talk to an old friend. All the same, when the words, “Wotcher” formed in the smoke that he had just exhaled, he started to doubt that theory. It had probably just been because he had been thinking about her, remembering her really, when he shut his eyes and breathed out. It was his subconscious manifesting her because he missed her, nothing else. Not a sign from up above, just a sign that he was losing it.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	38. Dammit, Janet!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part two of the eventful Halloween party.
> 
> P.S - I know Astoria is a bitch right now, but she's going to get a redemption arc, I promise!
> 
> P.S.S - Chapter title is the name of a song from Rocky Horror Picture Show.

“Hey.”

Daphne turned around and did a double-take when she realised that it was Astoria who had cornered her by the library as she checked on the kids. The Halloween party was still in full swing, but she figured that they would all crash soon.

“Hey, I didn’t think you would make it.”

“Neither did I,” Astoria confessed, “But I decided to come, at the last minute.”

“Why do you look so miserable?” Daphne asked, frowning at her sister, “And seeing you blonde is strange, by the way.”

“I know,” Astoria said with a smile, “We look more like sisters than ever, don’t we?”

“We do,” Daphne agreed, “But you didn’t tell me why you look like a slapped puppy.”

Astoria shrugged, “I spoke to Charlie. It was nice; it was kind of like the goodbye we didn’t say after the divorce papers and the settlements and the meetings…”

Daphne reached out and grabbed her sister’s hand.

“And I made an offer, I guess,” Astoria continued, “A final goodbye, you know?”

“Uh-huh,” Daphne replied, “And he didn’t go for it?”

Astoria shook her head.

“Well, I love you, Tori, I really do,” Daphne said honestly, “But can you blame him? You divorced him, and he’s taking that harder than you are. I can guarantee you that it took everything he had to say no to you, but he had to for his own sake. You coming here and offering that…it was selfish.”

Astoria frowned, “I seem to be doing that a lot lately, don’t I? Making selfish decisions?”

Daphne didn’t say yes or no; she just made a face that told Astoria everything that she needed to know.

“I want to make things right, Daphne,” Astoria said honestly, “Which is why I will put everything we have into the upstart of Greengrass Curse-Breaking but-”

“No,” Daphne cut in, “By all means, give us a start-up grant but don’t put all you have into it. If you want to make things right, you can start by coming to parties when we invite you, by not missing your nieces and nephews birthdays and by showing up to the occasional Christmas dinner.”

“Okay,” Astoria said simply, “I will, and I’m sorry.”

“I know you are,” Daphne said genuinely.

“And whatever it takes for you to forgive me-”

“I forgive you,” Daphne interrupted, “You’re my sister. Of course, I forgive you.”

Astoria smiled tearfully at that and wrapped her arms around her older sister, “Thank you.”

* * *

“Robert.”

“Huh?”

Jennifer crossed her arms and stared down at her husband, “Are you sober?”

“I am…moderately functional,” Rob replied diplomatically.

Jennifer rolled her eyes while Harry sniggered at Rob’s side.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Jennifer remarked irritably, “I suppose that means I’m taking the kids home?”

“We can always take them for you,” Harry piped up.

Daphne’s eyebrows shot up, “Can we?”

Harry looked at his wife cautiously, “Uh…well…to help Rob and Jen out cause they are going through a difficult time right now, you know?”

“So we can just take two extra kids home with us,” Daphne quipped, “Because what’s two more on top of the four we’ve got, right?”

“Yeah,” Harry said with a smile, completely missing her sarcasm, “Exactly.”

“No!” Daphne snapped, “No, Harry. Four kids are enough, especially when one of them is a baby with reflux who does not sleep through the night. Robert can sober the hell up and take his own children home, and you can zip your mouth shut.”

Harry bit his lip and looked at Rob, “Uh, so as it turns out, we can’t take them.”

“I gathered that,” Rob said, shoving himself to his feet, “But just between you and me, she’s grouchier than usual so you might wanna make sure she gets laid tonight.”

Jennifer grimaced as Daphne pulled her wand on Rob, “Do you want to say that again, a little louder?”

Rob shook his head, “Eh, honestly? No, I don’t so I’ll just be getting my kids and heading home now. Bye!”

Daphne shook her head and holstered her wand, “How do you put up with him?”

“The Irish accent and the incredible sex gets me through the bad days,” Jennifer replied sarcastically.

Daphne chuckled in response then turned to Harry, “I know you want to help everyone, but we have enough on our plate right now, without adding more.”

“I know,” Harry admitted sheepishly, “I just didn’t think, I’m sorry.”

“I know you didn’t think,” Daphne said, narrowing her eyes at her husband, “And I know you’re sorry, but I am a little worried.”

“Why?” Harry asked.

Daphne sighed and glanced around to make sure they were sufficiently alone, “How much have you had to drink tonight?”

As she suspected, Harry immediately got defensive, “Daphne, I honestly haven’t been counting, but it’s not much. You can get Lilly to do a blood test if you don’t believe me.”

“It’s not much, but you can’t remember how many you’ve had?” Daphne asked under her breath, “That sounds like the old Harry, the one who had a problem.”

“I’ve not had a relapse for years,” Harry reminded her, “Not even when Theo died. Why would I suddenly start drinking again now?”

“Because this is how it happened the first time,” Daphne said, standing her ground, “You didn’t have a bad day then have a blow-out. You just drank a little, far too often, and when we had a party, you tended to go too hard.”

“I don’t drink spirits anymore,” Harry pointed out.

“How many beers did you have at the last poker night?” Daphne asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I don’t know, five or six, maybe.”

“You usually have one, on occasion two,” Daphne pointed out.

“Daphne-”

“No,” Daphne said firmly, “We’re not doing this here, but you are getting a blood test as soon as we go home.”

“Don’t you trust me?” Harry asked her irritably.

“Not when you don’t even know how much you’ve had to drink, Harry!” She snapped, “I’m going home!” she added, stalking away from him before the argument could get too heated.

* * *

“Hey, Lil. Do you want to go home?”

Lilly frowned and looked at the clock, “It’s only 9 pm.”

“I know, but I need to get the kids home,” Daphne lied.

Lilly knew that wasn’t the reason, but she offered to help Daphne get the kids home anyway. Between them, they side-apparated everyone back to Potter Manor and Lilly read Teddy a bedtime story while Daphne got Alastor, Andrea and Thea in their pyjamas.

By the time Lilly was done, Daphne had settled down Alastor and Andrea and was just warming a bottle up for Thea.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Lilly asked.

“Why do you assume that something is going on?” Daphne asked, “Nothing is going on.”

“You left a party before 10 pm,” Lilly said, “You got home and changed out of your super sexy costume into your pyjamas, and you look like you can’t decide if you’re angry or sad.”

Daphne took Thea’s bottle out of the water and dried it off with a kitchen cloth, “I just…I’m probably overthinking it.”

Lilly raised an eyebrow, “Give me the baby.”

Daphne smiled slightly and handed Thea, who already looked half-asleep, to Lilly. Her best friend took the bottle and popped it into the little girl's mouth, then she looked up, “Tell me all about your crazy.”

“I think Harry’s drinking too much again,” Daphne confessed.

“Well, the good news is that you’re not going crazy,” Lilly said softly.

“You’ve noticed too?”

Lilly nodded. “Ever since Theo died, but more so since he came back. I think it started with the Lucia case.”

“I think it started with the attack on the church, with what happened to Neville. But either way, it hasn’t gotten better,” Daphne lamented, “Even now that Lucia’s gone.”

Lilly bit her lip, “I know.”

“I fought with him tonight which was why I wanted to leave early,” Daphne confessed.

“Did you confront him about it?” Lilly queried.

Daphne nodded, “I asked him how much he’d had to drink and he didn’t know. He got defensive, just like he used to…”

She trailed off, and Lilly looked down at Thea, who had fallen fast asleep with the bottle in her mouth, “Come on, let’s get this little one down in her Moses basket.”

Daphne nodded. They walked upstairs in silence and Daphne opened the door to her and Harry’s bedroom, Lilly crept in and laid Thea down.

“Silencio,” Lilly murmured, putting up a one-way silencing charm so that they could hear Thea if she cried, but so that she couldn’t hear them.

Daphne threw herself down on the bed and asked, “Can you stay?”

“Of course I can,” Lilly answered, “Do you want Harry to come home tonight or…?”

“Not really, I want him to stew on things for at least 24 hours,” Daphne said, rubbing her eyes, “Can you-”

“Yeah, I’ll send Nev a Patronus and tell him that Harry is his responsibility tonight,” Lilly said as she lay down next to Daphne, “The last time Harry was like this, Neville and you were the only ones who could come close to knocking sense into him.”

“You fit into that category too now,” Daphne mused, turning her head to look at Lilly, “You’re one of his best friends.”

“I know I am,” Lilly said, “But I’m not the love of his life or his blood brother. Neville hasn’t noticed the drinking, but he has been worried about Harry ever since the attack on the church.”

“I think all of us have been,” Daphne confessed, “But we made sure he was okay the last time, and we can go do it again. Can’t we?”

Lilly grabbed Daphne’s hand and smiled at her, “Of course we can.”

* * *

“Godric Gryffindor, huh?”

Charlie spun around in his seat at the bar, “I’m not the most inventive person in the world, and I was a Gryffindor, so yep.”

Caroline smiled, “Ditto, only I was a Ravenclaw hence the Rowena Ravenclaw costume.”

Charlie chuckled and held out his hand, “I’m Charlie.”

“I’m Caroline,” Caroline said, shaking his hand and getting herself a beer from the free bar.

“You drink beer?” Charlie asked curiously.

“My Dad was an Auror, my ex was an Auror, the majority of my friends are Aurors or Trauma Healers so yeah, I drink beer,” Caroline answered with a grin, “You drink shots all the time or just tonight?”

“Just this month,” Charlie replied with a rueful smile, “My wife left me, or I left her. We kind of left each other actually, that’s her over there.”

Caroline followed his line of sight. Astoria was currently chatting to Jason and Echo was flying in circles around them.

“Is that her new boyfriend?” Caroline asked.

“No, just the guy she’s using to try and make me jealous,” Charlie said with a shrug, “It wasn’t a very clean break.”

“I see,” Caroline mused, “She’s into dragons then?”

“Yeah, I suppose so,” Charlie said, “I kind of got her into dragons, she was a kid when I met her…”

Caroline raised an eyebrow at him, “I’m a mental health Healer by the way, chiefly for Aurors with PTSD, granted. But if you have some deep-rooted Daddy issues that you need to discuss, I can give you my card.”

Charlie laughed loudly, “Nah, it wasn’t like that. It was all above board; she was 18.”

“And you were?”

“28,” Charlie admitted.

Caroline whistled, “Wow. How long were you married for?”

“3 years,” Charlie replied, his eyes still on Astoria, “But we were together for almost six. It was good while it lasted anyway.”

He cleared his throat and knocked back his last shot, “What about you? You said your ex was an Auror?”

“Yeah,” Caroline admitted, “A long time ago. Eddie died in the war, during the Battle of Hogwarts.”

“Shit,” Charlie cursed, “I’m sorry for bringing that up.”

Caroline shook her head, “Don’t be, it was a long time ago now. It still hurts to talk about, of course, but I can talk about it without falling apart .”

“I know it’s not the same, but I lost my brother in the Battle of Hogwarts,” Charlie said, he tore his eyes away from her and looked down at the bar, “Seven years and still…when someone makes a joke, I expect to hear Fred laughing and he never does.”

Caroline smiled sadly, “I sometimes look over my shoulder at Eddie, even after seven years. I know he’s not there, but sometimes, it slips my mind.”

“He must have been one hell of a guy,” Charlie said.

Caroline nodded, “Yeah, he was. I met him at school, I was a Ravenclaw, and he was a Hufflepuff, so we shared a lot of classes. In 5th year, he asked me to the Yule Ball, and the rest was history.”

“The Yule Ball was in your 5th year?” Charlie asked in surprise, “So you’re what, 26?”

“27 next month, I have a late birthday, so I was one of the oldest in my year,” Caroline replied, “Why? Do you think I look older?”

“No,” Charlie admitted, “It’s not that you look older; it’s that you seem older.”

“Well,” Caroline mused, “I left school in 1997 and was thrown straight into a warzone, so I guess that ages you.”

Charlie nodded thoughtfully, “He was young when he died then, your ex?”

“He was,” Caroline said sadly, “We got married young, straight out of school. Merlin, my dad disapproved, it wasn’t that he didn’t like Eddie, he just didn’t like the idea of his daughter getting married so young, but I was pregnant so,” she shrugged.

“Shotgun wedding,” Charlie said with a smile, “Oh, don’t worry, I feel you. There have been quite a few of them in my family.”

Caroline laughed, “He would have been a great dad, and he was so excited, but he never got to meet Edith. I was pregnant when he died.”

Charlie’s face fell, “Oh…jeez.”

Caroline pulled a photograph out of her purse and showed it to Charlie, “This was the day we found out we were having a girl, about two weeks before the battle.”

Charlie looked down at the photograph of a much younger Caroline, and a tall redheaded man by her side. They were both smiling, full of youth and happiness.

“I never know why kind people get dealt the cruellest cards in life,” Charlie said with a sigh, “But from the fifteen minutes I’ve had with you, I would categorically say that you did not deserve any of that.”

Caroline’s cheeks flushed, “Oh Merlin, I’ve known you for fifteen minutes, and I have literally just told you my life story, I’m so sorry.”

Charlie chuckled, “Hey, it’s okay. I guess even therapists need someone to talk to, huh?”

“How did you know I was a therapist?” Caroline asked in surprise.

“Your demeanour and the fact you’re a Mental Health Healer who works with Aurors,” Charlie admitted with a smile, “Doesn’t take a sleuth to work it out.”

Caroline chuckled too, “So you’re not an Auror then?”

“Nope,” Charlie answered.

“What do you do? You mentioned dragons, but you don’t look like a Magizoologist,” Caroline said, cocking her head at him.

Charlie snorted, “That’s because I’m not. Those lunatics over there are two of the most talented Magizoologist’s that you could ever wish to meet,” he nodded his head in Luna and Rolf’s direction, “I was a Dragonologist for a long time, then my ex-wife brought me back to Britain, and I worked with her at Greengrass Industries for a while-”

“Astoria Greengrass is your ex-wife?” Caroline asked in surprise.

“Yep,” Charlie replied.

“Wow, I didn’t recognise her with the blonde hair and the – no offence – lack of the sexy, business pout that she does in every promotional photograph that has ever existed,” Caroline admitted.

Charlie barked out a laugh, “No offence taken. We split up because her company came before everything. Not just me, but her own family too.”

“Won’t that be awkward, working with her now?” Caroline asked.

Charlie shook her head, “Nah, she fired me, so I’m sort of between jobs at the moment. I did a brief stint as the Care of Magical Creatures professor at Hogwarts, and I might go back because the current professor is thinking of taking a sabbatical.”

“You wouldn’t go back to the Dragonologist thing?” Caroline asked.

“I thought about it,” Charlie admitted, “About just running away back to the safety of Romania, and surrounding myself with dragons because they can’t hurt me like people can. But it’s a cop-out, my family are here and – why am I talking to you about all of this?”

Caroline laughed, “It’s a curse, and also why I went into the line of work that I did. My mother was an empath, and I inherited a lot of her ability. People tend to feel calm around me, and I can feel others emotions quite deeply.”

“What do I feel right now then?” Charlie asked her.

“Confused,” Caroline replied, “Angry, jealous, a little bit bitter.”

Charlie nodded and looked down.

“But most of all, lonely,” Caroline finished, “And I don’t need to be an empath to sympathise on that one. I have a lot of colleagues, but none of them really view me as friends because I’m the one who has to sign them off as safe to work, I’m the one who has seen their file and who knows their deepest secrets and desires. That’s intimidating for people, so my work friends are just that and...I lost my dad a few months ago, so it’s just Edith and me now.”

Charlie gave her a sympathetic smile, “I’m sorry about your dad. Was he the Head Auror who passed away in August?”

“Yeah, I’m Caroline Sumner or Caroline Lamb,” Caroline shrugged, “I never changed my name back after Eddie died because I didn’t want to forget him, but now I wonder if my family name should live on in Edith…it’s complicated.”

“And it’s nothing you have to decide right now,” Charlie said, “Why don’t you wait till she’s older then decide with Edith?”

Caroline looked over at the playroom, “That’s a good idea.”

“Which one is she? Is she a redhead?”

“Yeah, she looks just like her dad,” Caroline said with a smile, “It’s hard to spot her in there amongst all of those Weasley’s.”

“We do breed like rabbits,” Charlie joked.

“Oh, you’re a Weasley?” Caroline asked in surprise.

“Charles Weasley, but everyone calls me Charlie,” Charlie confirmed with a nod.

“Sorry, I hadn’t realised,” Caroline admitted.

“I spent most of my time in Romania, then I hid behind my powerful ex-wife,” Charlie said with a grin, “I’m not offended that you don’t know who I am.”

Caroline smiled sheepishly and said, “Oh, there she is.”

“Oh, she’s Tiger-Lily?” Charlie chuckled, “She’s put a few noses out of joint tonight. It seems she has stolen the affection of Teddy Lupin-Potter and my niece, Victoire, is already vying for that.”

Caroline laughed, “Oh to be young and in love with no idea of what the future holds, those days feel like they were a long time ago.”

“They certainly do,” Charlie agreed.

Caroline finished her beer and got to her feet, “Well, it was nice meeting you, Charlie, but I had better get my princess home before the clock hits midnight.”

Charlie bowed his head, “I hope the coming years give you more luck than the last few have.”

“And you,” Caroline said. She fished in her bag then handed him a business card, “Just in case you ever want to get to the root of those Daddy issues.”

Charlie barked out a loud laugh and slipped the card into his pocket, “I’ll bear that in mind,” he said.

Caroline shot him a grin then turned around and walked towards the library. Charlie chuckled and turned back to the bar, she had been a nice girl, but he had no intention of floo-ing her or asking her out for a drink. She had a kid, and he was messed up - he had to get a grip and quit drinking and shagging his sorrows away before he was worthy of dating anyone.

With that in mind, he glanced along the bar and caught the eye of an unfamiliar guy. Charlie had no idea what his costume was, but he was sure of one thing, the younger man was definitely eying him up.

* * *

“It’s not a secret passage; I would know if it was,” Draco was saying to Blaise, “It’s my castle.”

“Our castle,” Theo piped up.

“You haven’t sold number 11 and put your share into it yet so technically it’s my castle right now,” Draco teased.

Blaise rolled his eyes, “You two are like an old married couple, honestly.”

“Says the guy whose wife is shagging his sister,” Draco said pointedly.

“Does she actually shag you anymore or is she exclusively into girls now?” Theo asked bluntly.

Ginny, who had been hovering nearby, appeared at Blaise’s side, “I do actually have sex with the person I’m married to, Theo. Unlike you - from what I hear you prefer dick these days, isn’t that right, Draco?”

“I’ve not shagged him,” Theo hissed.

“Keep your voice down, Weaslette,” Draco agreed.

Ginny rolled her eyes, “It has been Zabini for years, _Malfoy_.”

“Touche,” Draco muttered, glaring at her.

“It’s a wonder you two never shagged in high school,” Blaise said, looking between his wife and his old friend in amusement.

“She was too busy making out with Daphne in broom closets,” Theo quipped.

“You are going about this the right way if you want a bat-bogey hex up the arse, Theo,” Ginny said irritably.

“Alright, you sleep with Blaise,” Theo said, raising his hands, “We believe you, honestly.”

Ginny shot Blaise an irritated look, and the dark-skinned man smirked. He pointed his wand at Theo and said, “Legilimens!”

Theo was instantly bombarded with a series of images, “Holy fuck, I did not want to see that.”

“That was last night,” Blaise said, holstering his wand, “Convinced yet?”

“Yeah,” Theo said awkwardly, “Ginny Weasley, who knew you were so flexible, huh?”

“Right that’s it,” Ginny said, pulling her wand out.

“Nope,” Theo said, yanking back the tapestry that they had initially been arguing about so that he could escape from Ginny.

To Draco’s surprise, it did pull back and reveal a narrow gap in the wall.

Blaise smirked and tapped a brick next to the gap, which was a shade lighter than the rest. As the wall began to move, he said, “It seems you don’t know your castle that well, Draco.”

But, before Draco had a chance to argue with Blaise too much on that front, everyone got a shock when they realised that the secret passageway was already occupied.

Charlie had someone smaller, and younger than him pressed against a wall and he was kissing him. Kissing was the polite word for it anyway; it was pretty intense.

When the stones gave way, they jumped apart, and a small crowd began to gather.

“Oh shit,” Harry muttered when he realised who Charlie had been kissing.

Draco was the next to cotton on, “Oh fuck, where is he?”

“Hopefully not here,” Neville whispered from Harry’s other side.

“Dan?” A stunned voice said.

Harry and Draco grimaced and caught each other’s eye.

“Ben,” Dan said, his eyes wide, “It’s not-”

Ben shook his head and glared at his boyfriend, “Save it,” he said as he turned to leave.

“Draco, can you-” Harry began to say.

Terry, who had also seen it all, cut in, “It’s okay, I’ll go after him,” he said, jogging out of the ballroom after the Junior Auror.

“Charlie,” Harry said in disbelief, “What the hell, man?”

“And Dan,” Draco added, “Get out of my castle.”

“But-”

“You just cheated on your boyfriend who happens to be one of the best trainees we’ve ever had the pleasure of training,” Harry reminded Dan, “So you might want to listen to us and get out before we curse you out, kid.”

“Right,” Dan said, the colour rising in his cheeks, “I’ll go.”

He shoved his way through the crowd, and Harry said, “Charlie, a word?”

“Can I help you knock that word into my brother, please Harry?” Ginny asked, glaring at her older brother.

“Of course you can, Gin,” Harry replied, “Come on.”

Charlie followed them grudgingly out of the ballroom and up a set of stairs to the top of the tower. Once they got to the roof, Harry handed Ginny his cloak and told Charlie to have a cigarette.

The three of them sat on the roof for a moment, then Harry asked, “What the hell made you do that?”

“Astoria,” Charlie answered.

“I could have predicted that answer,” Ginny said dryly.

“I know you don’t like her, Gin,” Charlie said irritably, “You never have, so just save the ‘I told you so’, please.”

“Fine,” Ginny remarked, “What did she do?”

“Took some Auror home with her,” Charlie muttered irritably.

“What Auror?” Harry and Ginny asked in unison.

“Some guy called Jason,” Charlie replied.

Harry rolled his eyes, “Why does all of this shit involve my bloody team?”

“Because you’re Harry Potter, therefore, you’re not allowed an easy life?” Ginny quipped.

“Don’t even joke,” Harry said with a shake of his head, “Charlie, go home _on your own._ Sleep it off and in the morning, re-evaluate your life, for all of our sakes.”

Charlie didn’t even fight it; he just stubbed out his cigarette and went back down the staircase.

Harry was about to follow him when Ginny grabbed his hand, “Harry, wait.”

He did. Harry turned to look at her, “What’s up?”

“Nothing is wrong with me,” Ginny said honestly, “But something is wrong with you.”

Harry frowned, “What do you mean?”

“When that incident happened,” Ginny said, gesturing downstairs, “You were sitting at the bar with Ron, and you were drinking firewhiskey.”

Harry’s frown deepened, “No, I’ve been drinking beer all night.”

Ginny shook her head, “Trust me, Harry. I’m sober. I haven’t had a thing to drink all night. Check my memory.”

Harry took a step towards her and put his hand on the side of her face.

“Legilimens.”

The image at the forefront of Ginny’s mind was of Harry drinking firewhiskey and laughing with Rob at the bar. He took his hand off of her face, breaking the connection abruptly, and his eyes widened in horror.

“But…how could I…”

Ginny grabbed his hand, “I’m sorry, Harry, but this is for your own good – stupefy!”

* * *

“Neville,” Ginny hissed across the ballroom, motioning at her old friend.

Neville frowned and excused himself from the conversation he was having with Rolf Scamander.

“I need your help with a body on the roof,” Ginny whispered.

Neville grabbed her hand and pulled her into an alcove, “Please tell me that I heard that wrong.”

Ginny shook her head, “Harry is sort of passed out on the roof, and when I say passed out, I actually mean unconscious because I stupefied him, for his own good.”

“Lilly was right,” Neville said, resting his head against the stone wall, “His drinking is getting bad again. She asked me to keep an eye on him because he fought with Daphne earlier, but people kept talking to me and-”

“Shh,” Ginny hushed, “It’s not your fault, but it is your problem.”

“My best friend, my problem,” Neville agreed, “I’ll take him to Longbottom House.”

They stepped onto the staircase together, and Neville asked, “Did you hear our big announcement earlier?”

“I did,” Ginny said, shooting a smile back at him, “Twin boys, you and Lilly will be happy.”

“We’re both bloody thrilled,” Neville admitted, “It feels like it has been such a long time coming, you know?”

“I know,” Ginny said honestly, “I’ve been there through all of the false starts, remember? You were practically swooning over each other during the war then you dated Hannah and she dated Ron before you realised that you were destined for each other.”

Neville snorted, “You make it sound like a fairy tale.”

“You didn’t witness it - it was,” Ginny said pointedly, opening the door to the roof.

“I lived it - trust me, it wasn’t,” Neville said with an amused smile, “We were the ones that very nearly didn’t make it.”

“But you did, and you are all that much stronger because of it,” Ginny said simply. She pointed at Harry, “Take your comatose best friend home and when he wakes up, knock some sense into him. He’s got a good life, a good job and a good family. He can’t throw it all away.”

“He won’t,” Neville promised, “I won’t let him.”

Ginny smiled, “He’s very lucky to have you, Nev.”

Neville leant down and kissed her on the cheek, “Thanks, Gin.”

* * *

“Well…that was quite the situation,” Susan said matter of factly.

“Yeah, I’m doing the sensible Ravenclaw thing and staying out of it,” Clara admitted.

Susan chuckled, “I’ll just do the typical Hufflepuff thing and pretend it didn’t happen then.”

“And the Gryffindors can deal with it,” Clara said, nudging her head towards Hermione and Ron who were shepherding Charlie down the stairs.

“And typically, the Slytherins started it,” Susan said, rolling her eyes in Draco, Theo and Blaise’s direction.

“Some things never change,” Clara said with a shake of her head.

“And some things do,” Susan mused, filling up their wine glasses, “Like our husbands.”

Clara followed her line of sight to Percy and Sorenson who were playing around on the sunken shipwreck together. It was after midnight now, and all of the kids were asleep or had been sent home to Grandparents so that their parents could enjoy a night off.

The two Aurors had transfigured parts of an old coat stand into swords, and they were having a mock sword fight.

“Yeah,” Clara chuckled, “I never thought I would see the day. Sorenson was the jock and Percy was the nerd, now look at them, as thick as thieves.”

“Well, people change as they grow up,” Susan said, “Cliques don’t tend to matter so much once you’ve been through a war.”

“You said it,” Clara agreed.

“Oh, Holy Helga,” Susan muttered.

“On guard!” Percy yelled, jumping off of the ‘deck’ of the ‘ship’ and landing on all fours then disarming Sorenson.

“Children,” Clara muttered, “They are literal children.”

“And to think they are responsible fathers,” Susan snorted, “Percy wants another one, you know?”

“Sorenson did mention that,” Clara said, “We’ve decided to have a baby too. His accident made us think about that sort of thing in a different way.”

“Yeah,” Susan sighed, “Part of me doesn’t want to have another because the pregnancy and childbirth was so awful with Addison, but then I see her playing with other kids like she was tonight and I know that it would be nice for her to have a sibling.”

“So he’s convinced you then?” Clara asked.

“Almost,” Susan answered.

A loud yell sounded as Sorenson tackled Percy off of the shipwreck.

“Maybe,” Susan added, making Clara laugh.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	39. You've Made a Mess of Everything

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title comes from the song:  
> Heroes by All Time Low.
> 
> P.S - The focus for a good few chapters now is going to be on Harry and Daphne's relationship so if you think it looks like he gets off lightly in this chapter, trust me, he doesn't.

When Harry woke up on Sunday morning, he was aware that he was most certainly not in his own bed. However, the bed that he _was_ in was another familiar one. It was the bed in the nicest spare room of Longbottom House which was where he got banished to when he had pissed Daphne off.

He was also aware of a pounding headache that worsened when he opened his eyes. Harry groaned and blinked a few times until the ceiling came into focus. He pushed himself up and swallowed down the nauseous feeling in his gut. When he swung his legs over to get out of bed, he saw a vial on the bedside table with a note underneath it.

Harry picked up the vial and read Neville’s neat handwriting, “ _Recovering alcoholics shouldn’t get hangovers.”_

He sighed and knocked the potion back, grateful when his headache began to ease despite Neville’s bitchy note.

Harry tried to put it out of his mind when he stepped into the shower, but he couldn’t. Neville was right; recovering alcoholics shouldn’t get hangovers. Recovering alcoholics shouldn’t drink firewhiskey. Recovering alcoholics shouldn’t forget how many beers they had with their friends.

He turned the water off and scrubbed his face with a towel then threw on some clothes that Neville had left next to the bed for him. They were Neville’s clothes, so they were too long and loose for him, but he adjusted them with magic and headed downstairs nervously.

From the note, and the way he had acted the night before, he was expecting an intervention.

Instead, he got breakfast.

“Hey,” Neville said as if nothing had happened, “Breakfast?”

“Yeah,” Harry said, frowning at him, “Look Nev, about last night.”

“It’s not me that you need to apologise to about last night,” Neville said, cracking a couple of eggs into a frying pan and giving a grill pan full of bacon a shake, “It’s your wife, and my wife for that matter.”

“Did Lilly spend the night with Daphne?” Harry asked.

Neville nodded, “Yeah, which meant that my wife, who is pregnant with twins, got hardly any sleep last night because your refluxy baby kept her awake.”

Harry let his head rest on the kitchen counter, “I’m sorry.”

“Again, not me you need to apologise to.”

“Shut up,” Harry snapped, “It is you that I need to apologise to, so let me fucking apologise!”

Neville raised an eyebrow at him, “Great start to that apology, Harry,” he said sarcastically.

Harry groaned and hit the counter, “You kept me on the straight and narrow, hell you and Daphne _got_ me on the straight and narrow the first time. I owed it to you to stick to that, but I didn’t, and I didn’t because _you_ got hurt. You could have died, you could have been paralysed forever and here’s me, whining and drinking because my best friend isn’t my Auror partner anymore. It’s pathetic.

“Yeah, it is,” Neville agreed, “Grow up, you have Draco.”

“And he’s great, but he’s not you,” Harry said, “Nobody will ever be you, and I don’t have the right to complain about that or feel sad about it because you’re the one who is in pain and who is having a difficult recovery, but I miss you - I miss you being my partner.”

Neville turned the gas off and let the breakfast finish cooking itself, “You are being selfish, and you are also being stupid. What happened to me, it wasn’t your fault-”

“Yes, it was!” Harry snapped, “You were my partner! It was my job to protect you, and I failed!”

“Nobody could have prevented it unless they had a time machine, Harry,” Neville said firmly, “And what you did afterwards, it saved my life.”

“But it wasn’t enough,” Harry muttered, turning away from Neville.

Neville threw the spatula in his hand onto the work surface and snapped, “Of course it was enough!”

Harry jumped out of his skin and looked up at his best friend in alarm.

“You don’t think that saving my life was enough?” Neville barked, “You don’t think that saving me from life in a wheelchair was enough? Because it is! I’m going to become a Herbology Professor because of you! I’m going to run around after my kids because of you! I can still sleep with my wife _because_ of you. All of that is because of what you did, so yes, it’s enough. For fuck sake Harry, of course, it’s enough!”

Harry stared at Neville for a long second, then he said, “I’m going to Caroline’s office tomorrow.”

“Yeah, great idea,” Neville remarked simply. He put a plate of bacon, eggs and toast in front of Harry.

“I think I might have some PTSD about what happened in that church.”

“You think?” Neville quipped sarcastically.

Harry just sighed.

“Eat,” Neville instructed.

“Neville-”

“We’re good, Harry,” Neville said with a sigh, “I just needed to lose my temper at you.”

“I needed to hear that,” Harry confessed.

“I know,” Neville remarked, “So eat.”

Harry looked down, suddenly feeling hungrier than he had in a while, “Alright,” he said simply, and without another word, they tucked into their breakfast.

* * *

Harry couldn’t lie; he was nervous about going home later that morning. Neville walked with him through the woods then headed off for his secret greenhouse.

His sense of dread furthered when he saw Daphne and Lilly sitting outside the front door waiting for him. All the same, he swallowed his pride and strode up the path.

Lilly was holding her wand, “Blood test or you don’t walk in that house.”

Harry sighed and held up his arm.

Lilly wasn’t even gentle when she punctured his skin; he knew that it was going to bruise.

Harry winced and said, “Look, I’m sorry.”

“Save it until we see how bad the damage is,” Lilly remarked.

Harry sighed and looked away from her to Daphne. While Lilly looked angry, Daphne looked tired and sad. She didn’t catch his eye, so Harry looked down at the vial of blood that Lilly had just extracted from him.

Lilly ended the spell and yanked her wand back, throwing a cotton bud at Harry, “Put pressure on it.”

Harry did so with a grimace, “What is that doing?”

Lilly shook the vial, which had a gauge on the side. There were numbers on it and three colours, starting with green, going through orange and then up to red.

“Calculating how much alcohol is in your blood,” Lilly replied, “Green is good, red is bad. Have you taken any potions this morning?”

“Just a mild pain reliever,” Harry replied, “For a headache.”

Lilly shot him a sceptical look as a small arrow began to float up the gauge, past the green and into the amber. Harry swallowed and prayed that arrow didn’t get as far as red. As it was, it got very close but stopped near the top of the amber section.

Lilly turned the vial so that Daphne could see it and Harry’s stomach flipped nervously.

“Oh for the love of Merlin,” Daphne muttered, turning away from Harry, “I give up, Harry. I just…give up.”

“Daphne-”

“No,” Lilly cut in, “You do not get to beg her for forgiveness or tell her a cock and bull story about why you did it, not this time, Harry! The last time you had one baby, you had your relationship, Teddy and your job at stake but now? Now, you have everything to lose!”

“I know that,” Harry said calmly.

Lilly was surprised by the lack of shouting, “You…what?”

“I know,” Harry repeated, “And I’m sorry. I know that sorry doesn’t magically make everything better, but I _am_ sorry. I think I know why it happened and I think I know how to stop it, which is why I am going to talk to Caroline first thing tomorrow.”

Lilly frowned, “You’re not in denial?”

“No, I know I’m an idiot,” Harry said, reaching out and touching Daphne’s wrist, “And I know I don’t deserve you, and I know that you put up with more than most women would…with more than you should have to.”

Daphne turned around, and it broke Harry’s heart to see tears in her eyes, “I’m sorry.”

She swallowed and gave a small nod, but said nothing.

Harry turned to Lilly, “And I’m sorry that you got no sleep because of Thea, but thank you for looking after Daphne.”

“I always will; you know that,” Lilly said, “And I will also always protect her and defend her. She might think she’s the Ice Queen, but her fortress is a lot easier to penetrate these days.”

Daphne smiled a little, “I love you too, Lil, but you need to go home.”

Lilly fought a yawn and nodded, “Are you two going to be okay?”

Harry looked at Daphne cautiously, “Are we okay? Am I allowed to come in?”

“You can come in,” Daphne said with a sigh.

“I know that doesn’t mean you forgive me,” Harry promised, “I know that I have a long way to go to make this right.”

“Yes, you do,” Daphne agreed.

Lilly kissed her on the cheek, “You know I’m right here if you need me.”

Daphne nodded and watched Lilly walk down the path. Then she turned back to Harry and said, “You need to stop drinking.”

“I know that, Daphne-”

“No, I mean you need to stop drinking completely,” Daphne said firmly, “You have a high-stress job, and as time goes on, it’s only going to get worse. You are Assistant Head Auror, one day you will be Head, and you _will_ lose people. Good people, good Aurors, are going to die on your watch and you can’t do this every time that they do. You have a problem with alcohol, that means that you need to cut it out completely.”

“Okay,” Harry said simply.

“Okay?” Daphne echoed.

“You’re right,” Harry said, his eyes meeting hers, “I do have a problem, and that means I can’t be trusted to drink at all.”

Daphne surveyed him for a long moment then gave a small nod. She stepped back and opened the front door, “The kids don’t know that anything happened between us. They just think that you stayed later than me at the party then stayed over at Uncle Neville’s.”

“Thank you,” Harry said genuinely.

Daphne nodded and stepped into the house. Harry stepped in after her and followed her cautiously through to the kitchen.

“Dad, you’re back!” Teddy said eagerly.

Harry smiled, “Yeah, did you have fun last night?”

“Yeah, Nick and me made a new friend,” Teddy chirped, “She’s called Edith, she was Tiger-Lily, it was really cool.”

“Wicked,” Harry said, pouring himself a cup of coffee and surveying the kitchen. The kids were still in their pyjama’s which prompted the question, “Are we going to the Burrow today? We don’t have to if you don’t want them to know that things are a bit tense between us at the moment.”

He had lowered his voice so that the kids didn’t hear.

Daphne scoffed, “Harry, everyone is going to know that something is amiss with us. I left a party before 10 pm, when has that ever happened?”

“Good point,” Harry admitted, “We might get lucky anyway. If Charlie comes, everyone will be so preoccupied with what he did that they won’t notice anything off about us.”

“What do you mean?” Daphne asked with a frown, “What did Charlie do?”

“Oh,” Harry murmured, “Yeah, you don’t know about that. Well, he sort of…he kissed Dan in a secret passageway, and everyone saw it.”

“Dan?” Daphne asked slowly, “Oh no, you mean Ben’s boyfriend?”

“Yeah,” Harry said, rubbing his eyes, “Ben stormed out, Terry went after him. Oh, and your sister took Jason home, by the way, to piss Charlie off, which was how the whole thing started.”

“For the love of Merlin,” Daphne muttered, “I’m going to curse her at supper tonight.”

“Oh shit,” Harry cursed, “I had forgotten that was tonight.”

“We are not skipping it, so don’t even suggest it. You can consider it your penance,” Daphne said with a sly look, “Help me get the kids ready and we’ll head to the Burrow soon so we can bow out early to get to supper with my dad.”

Harry didn’t want to argue with her on anything at the moment because he was aware that the line he was walking was a very fine one, “Okay, sure.”

* * *

When Charlie woke up on Sunday morning, he took a hangover potion, cursed at himself then pulled out Caroline’s business card and looked at it for five long minutes before muttering that it was a stupid idea and heading downstairs.

The moment he walked into the kitchen, he got a disapproving look from his brother.

“Where’s your missus?” Charlie asked nonchalantly.

“At the shop,” Bill replied, crossing his arms and looking at his little brother, “How’s the head?”

“Fine, thank Merlin for hangover potions, right?” Charlie said with a false smile.

Bill noticed so didn’t lay into him too hard.

Charlie sat down in a chair at the dining room table and frowned, “Do you think I have a problem, Bill?”

Bill scoffed, “Do I think you have a problem? Yeah, I think you have a fucking problem, you snogged a kid last night!”

“He’s not a kid; he’s 21,” Charlie muttered.

“Yeah, and you’re 33!” Bill snapped, “What the fuck is wrong with you, Charlie? Why can’t you just have a stable relationship with someone your own age?”

“I don’t know!” Charlie yelled, “Alright? I don’t fucking know, Bill!”

Bill shook his head and retorted, “Well, you’re gonna have to grow the hell up, Charlie. You can’t spend your life sleeping with random people to help you forget about your problems. I mean what are you at now, 100? Maybe more?”

“I don’t know,” Charlie muttered, “I don’t keep count.”

“Yeah, I know you don’t,” Bill remarked, “You don’t keep count, you don’t think. You just do whatever you want, you shag anything that takes your fancy, and when you _have_ had a chance at happiness, you fuck it up. Astoria was too young for you, but you still chased after her. Why couldn’t you just have been happy with Rory?”

“Because I didn’t love her!” Charlie barked, “And I wasn’t just going to settle and give Mum a grandkid to make her happy like you and Fleur did!”

Bill’s disbelieving expression turned to anger, “You either apologise or you get the fuck out of this house right now before I hit you.”

“Hit me then,” Charlie said, standing up and squaring against his brother.

Bill wasted no time in throwing a punch at his younger brother, and Charlie swung back at him, but before he could hit him, Bill grabbed his fist and pinned it against the kitchen wall.

“The moon is close, Char,” Bill smirked, “I’m faster and stronger than you.”

Charlie sighed and stopped fighting against Bill. The moment his brother realised that he loosened his grip on him.

“Do you think I should go to a therapist?” Charlie asked.

“Yeah, I think that would be a great idea,” Bill remarked, grabbing a kitchen towel and wiping Charlie’s blood from his knuckles. He then threw the towel at Charlie who dabbed it against his nose.

“Is it broken?” Bill asked.

Charlie shook his head, “Just bruised, but you did give it a good try.”

Bill snorted in response.

“I met a therapist last night at the party, she gave me her card,” Charlie confessed, sitting back down.

“Is she hot?” Bill asked.

“She’s easy on the eyes, yeah,” Charlie replied.

“Then don’t go. Find an old, ugly, warty therapist and go there,” Bill said sarcastically, “Because no offence Charlie, but you’re a sex addict and I wouldn’t put it past you to fuck your therapist.”

Charlie laughed weakly, “What would be the point of going to her for help if I shagged her? I’m serious about this Bill; I think I have a problem.”

“Damn right, you have a problem, Char,” Bill said seriously, “I’m glad you’re going to see someone about it.”

Charlie sighed and cast a numbing charm on his nose, “If it’s all the same though, I am going to skip out on lunch at Mum’s today.”

“Oh no, you’re not,” Bill said with a shake of his head, “You don’t get to run away and avoid your problems. You are coming to lunch, and you are going to take it on the chin when everyone calls you out for making out with a child.”

“He was 21, don’t make me sound like a fucking creeper,” Charlie muttered irritably, getting up and glaring at Bill before stalking out of the room.

* * *

Sunday dinner at the Burrow started fine like it did every other week. Harry hugged Molly, the kids ran off to find some Weasley’s to play with, Daphne offered to help Molly cook, Molly refused, and Harry got pulled into a conversation about the Ministry with Arthur.

This Sunday Arthur wanted to talk about the Wizengamot and the planned changes. Harry rather got the impression that Arthur, knowing how close Harry and Neville were, was needling him for information. Either way, by the time Harry managed to slip away, they didn’t have long until lunch itself was served.

“Perce, hey,” Harry said, smiling when he saw the older man in the lounge, “You got a sec?”

Percy looked up; his glasses did nothing to cover up the redness in his eyes, “Yeah, sure. Outside?”

“If that makes you feel better,” Harry said, smiling in amusement, “Hungover, huh?”

“Sorenson goes hard or goes home,” Percy said with a sheepish smile, “I don’t, but I made the mistake of trying to keep up with him last night.”

Harry chuckled, and they slipped out of the rarely used front door in the lounge. For some reason, everyone came in the backdoor into the kitchen. Harry supposed that in the case of the Weasley’s, the kitchen was the heart of the home.

“How is that going? You and Sorenson?” Harry queried.

Percy raised an eyebrow at him, “Are you asking as my boss or my friend?”

“Both, I suppose,” Harry confessed, “But more as your friend.”

“It’s going fine,” Percy said honestly, “On a professional level, we work well together and on a personal level…it’s nice to have something close to a best friend for the first time in my life.”

Harry nodded, feeling a tug in his gut as he remembered that bond – the one he and Neville had shared as Auror partners. It was still there obviously, but it was different when you were partners, it was more profound.

“And how are things at home?” Harry asked tentatively, “I’m asking this one as your friend, not your boss, I promise.”

Percy frowned, “What do you know? Or think that you know?”

“I just saw a look pass across your face when Neville and Lilly announced the pregnancy,” Harry confessed, “And I know there was some conflict between you and Suse over a second baby so I wanted to…check in, I guess.”

Percy smiled, “And that’s nice of you, but we’re fine. I do want another, and she is proving hard to convince, but I’m making good headway.”

Harry laughed at that and looked out at the crisp, frozen grass, “Okay, I get the hint. I’ll keep my nose out of it.”

Percy chuckled, “On another note, what are you going to do about the Wizengamot?”

Harry shrugged, “I don’t think I should run and Neville thinks I should. I suppose I’ll make a decision when I find out if I’ve been nominated.”

Percy raised an eyebrow at him, “Harry; you are the saviour of the wizarding world – is there any doubt in your mind that you won’t be nominated?”

Harry opened the door and said, “Hey, anything can happen, right? You should run though; you’re good on the Wizengamot, hell you’re good at politics, Perce. You have the potential to go all the way, and you would certainly have my backing if you ever decided to run for Minister.”

Percy smiled at that, “Thanks, Harry. That means a lot.”

* * *

The Burrow was restored to its usual state of loudness – children screaming, siblings arguing, Molly rolling her eyes and fretting – by 3 pm that Sunday.

It all started with Charlie which surprised no one. He had been lucky enough not to have his escapades from the night before mentioned until Ron put his foot in it and made a comment about whether Charlie had plans to defile any more kids.

Molly, of course, screeched, “What?”

In turn, Charlie threw a dishcloth at Ron and George got in on the action by transfiguring it into a spider in mid-air.

Ron screeched in alarm and everyone who knew about Charlie’s escapades sniggered. Molly and Arthur looked less amused though.

“He was 21, and it was _him_ who dragged _me_ into the secret passageway!” Charlie snapped, “And I had no idea that he had a boyfriend by the way. _Ten minutes_ he spent chatting me up at that bar and he didn’t mention his boyfriend once so don’t paint me as the villain here!”

“You’re not the villain,” Bill agreed, “Nobody is saying that.”

“No, you’re all just judging me,” Charlie said, pushing himself to his feet, “And do you know what? I know I have problems! I know I can’t hold down a serious relationship, and I have no idea why I look for people half my age, I wish I did know! But I’m going to get help. I’m in my 30’s now, and I can’t keep living like this.”

There was a stunned silence after Charlie’s rant.

“Good,” Molly said with a nod, “Good, Charlie. I’m glad you realise you need some help.”

“And I’m sorry that this whole downward spiral started with my sister,” Daphne admitted.

Charlie shrugged, “We were both as at fault as each other in that relationship, Daphne. I’m never going to shove all of the blame on Astoria, she was just too young, and that wasn’t her fault.”

Bill gave a thoughtful nod at those words. He could have been harsher on his brother, but given the conversation that he’d had with him that morning, he knew that it would make no difference. Charlie knew something was wrong, and for the first time in his life, he was planning on doing something about it.

“Well,” Ginny said, looking around the room, “If we’re quite done with the drama, I have some news too.”

Molly sighed, anticipating bad news, “Go on, Ginny, dear.”

Ginny took Blaise’s hand, and on her other side, Blanche nudged her and said, “Just spit it out.”

“I’m pregnant,” Ginny said, “We’re having a baby in April.”

There was a stunned silence then Molly squealed and hugged her daughter tightly. She then hugged Blaise. The dark-skinned man patted Molly on the back awkwardly and looked helplessly at his sister.

Blanche smirked, “Huggers,” she mouthed.

As if on cue, Molly let go of Blaise and hugged Blanche.

Amongst all of the hugging, Ron began to frown, and Harry had a bad feeling that whatever was about to come out of his mouth was going to be incredibly stupid and would inevitably cause the family argument that hadn’t happened yet that Sunday.

“But,” Ron began, ignoring Daphne’s cut-throat motion and shake of her head in his direction, “I thought you only slept with Blanche these days?”

“Ronald!” Hermione snapped at the same time that Felicity groaned, “Ron,” and hid her face in her hand.

Ginny glared at her younger brother, “What?”

“Well, I thought you and Blaise…you know, your marriage?” Ron elaborated, “It’s just for show, isn’t it?”

Bill grimaced as his sister reached for her wand.

“Oh shit,” Charlie muttered, “You’ve done it now, Ron.”

George grinned and leant back in his chair, watching the whole show with some amusement.

Draco was biting back a smirk at the scene too, which Hermione nudged him in the ribs for the moment that she noticed.

“Our marriage is not for show,” Ginny ground out through gritted teeth, “It’s a fortress, built on mutual trust and love.”

Ron snorted, “Now you just sound like a pureblood.”

Ginny’s glare intensified, “Do you all think the same as him?” she asked, looking around at her family, “That Blaise and I have a fake marriage? That I love Blanche and have no interest in him?”

The looks on their faces answered her question before they had to do so with words.

“Well, you’re all wrong!” Ginny snapped, “It’s far more like Harry and Daphne’s relationship-”

Harry looked up sharply and Daphne in alarm.

“ – We are married, and we love each other, but I love Blanche too. Just like Daphne loves Lilly,” Ginny finished.

“Ginny,” Daphne sighed, “Did you have to say that here, in front of everyone?”

“It’s okay, Daphne dear,” Molly said, raising her hand, “We all know.”

“We’ve known for ages,” George agreed offhandedly.

Daphne shook her head in disbelief.

“And fair play to you, Gin,” Bill said with a smile, “Who cares how your relationship works? You’re pregnant, and you’re happy, so congratulations.”

The others all followed his lead and congratulated Ginny, Blaise and Blanche.

It seemed, despite the two bombshells that had been dropped that day, they had avoided a major blow-out. Daphne was still less than pleased at Ginny for outing her though, which Harry gathered when she muttered, “I hate dinner with your family. There is _always_ drama. When we have dinner with my family, it’s sophisticated, and it’s over quickly.”

Harry snorted and stopped himself from commenting on how he thought she preferred things to be less sophisticated and last longer, but he knew that now wasn’t the time and that she would curse him.

As the chaos died down, Harry grabbed a moment alone with Ginny on a bench outside. He chuckled when he sat down, “This is the same bench we sat on after the last time I found out you were pregnant.”

“The circumstances were a bit different back then,” Ginny said with a half-smile.

“Weren’t they just?” Harry agreed.

Ginny only nodded.

“So, if you don’t mind me asking, what changed your mind?” Harry asked, “I thought that you were quite happy with just Hope?”

“We were,” Ginny admitted, “And if I’m honest, Harry, this baby was kind of a surprise.”

“Again?” Harry asked with a slight smile.

“I know,” Ginny rolled her eyes, “But, and I would never say this in front of that lot, but you get it – what with the whole thing that Daphne and Lilly have going on.”

“You are in so much shit with Daphne for bringing that up by the way,” Harry cut in, “And it’s totally different. You have a three-way going on; the Zabini siblings basically share you.”

Ginny made a face.

“But with us,” Harry shrugged, “It’s Daphne and me, and Neville and Lilly. Just sometimes, when everyone is drunk, Daphne and Lilly get a bit too friendly.”

Ginny snorted, “That’s one way of putting it.”

“Either way, it’s not the same,” Harry said pointedly.

“Fine,” Ginny conceded, “But the point that I was making was that my family are kind of right, even if I will _never_ tell them that. I do sleep with Blanche more than Blaise these days, a lot more actually, so when I _did_ sleep with Blaise for the first time in a while we were…eager, I guess? And we forgot the spell.”

“Again,” Harry said, grinning at her in amusement.

Ginny punched him in the arm, “Shut up.”

Harry chuckled as he rubbed his arm, “Well, on the bright side, at least you aren’t 17 this time.”

“I swear, I am going to curse you,” Ginny threatened him.

Harry put an arm around her shoulder and said, “Nah, you love me like one of your blood brothers through there.”

“Yeah, Harry,” Ginny said sarcastically, “I love you just like a brother because you know, I totally sleep with my brothers, right?”

“What?”

Harry snorted, “Ron, mate, you just walked out at the exact wrong moment.”

“It’s an art form he’s perfected,” Ginny said, shooting Ron an irritated look.

Ron looked between them in bemusement, “How come you two always bond when she’s pregnant?”

“I’m the pregnancy oracle, dude,” Harry said, pushing himself to his feet and patting Ron on the shoulder on his way into the kitchen.

Ron looked at Ginny, “What?”

Ginny nodded sincerely, “He’s not wrong, you know?” she said, slipping into the kitchen and leaving her brother to wonder what on earth was going on.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	40. Someone I Used to Know Ran Himself in the Ground

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title comes from the song:  
> Someone I Used to Know by Zac Brown Band.
> 
> That song inspired this entire story-arc to be honest.

Hermione yawned and shoved her feet into high heels, “I can’t keep doing this.”

“Is spending an afternoon the Burrow really so exhausting?” Sadie asked, raising an eyebrow at her friend.

“Yes,” Hermione and Draco said in unison.

“I know the whole idea of these weekly suppers is so that we can see more of your mother,” Hermione said, turning to look at Draco, “But I don’t think we can keep doing back to back Burrow lunches and castle suppers, we should alternate it.”

“We can’t do that to Molly,” Draco said with a shake of his head, “It wouldn’t be fair. We have been going to the Burrow every Sunday that we can for the best part of six years.”

Hermione’s eyes welled up with tears.

“What?” Draco asked, frowning at her.

“It’s just…” Hermione shook her head and wiped her eyes, “The old you would never have said something so sweet in defence of Molly Weasley and I just…” she trailed off and wiped her eyes again.

“He said something nice about someone he used to hate,” Theo whispered to Sadie, “He’s getting laid tonight.”

Sadie nudged him in the ribs, “Shh. I don’t get it. Why does she always do this when Draco says something nice about a Weasley?”

“Because it’s a show of emotional maturity,” Theo said, leaning back and catching her eye, “He has gone from a silly prejudiced boy to a mature man with his own opinions and feelings.”

Sadie raised an eyebrow at him, “Wow, I bet you think you really Sigmund Freud-ed them there, huh?”

“Oh yeah,” Theo said with a grin, “It makes you want me, right?”

Sadie smiled and closed the gap, kissing him lightly, “Maybe a little,” she murmured against his lips.

Theo winked at her, and they turned back to Draco and Hermione, who had just stopped hugging.

Sadie got up and glanced down the staircase, “That’s the door - come on.”

The four of them headed downstairs as Narcissa and Cygnus arrived. Draco greeted his mother with a hug and his step-father with a shake of the hand, and then they all sat down in the drawing-room with glasses of wine or firewhiskey.

Just as the drinks were being poured, the floo activated and Harry and Daphne stepped through.

“No kids?” Hermione asked.

Harry shook his head, “Nope; they were exhausted after the Burrow, so Neville and Lilly are babysitting. Are yours all in bed?”

Hermione nodded, “Also exhausted after playing at the Burrow all day.”

“Is Astoria coming tonight?” Draco asked, looking specifically at Daphne and Cygnus.

“Who knows?” Daphne asked with a shrug, “Maybe she has an important business meeting; it’s not like she ever tells us.”

Cygnus sighed and looked down.

“Wine, Daphne?”

“Oh, yes please, Hermione,” Daphne answered.

Hermione handed the blonde woman a glass of red wine, and Daphne sat down in an armchair by the fire.

“What are you having, Harry?”

Harry smiled a little sadly, “Nothing alcoholic. I have a confession to make on that front, actually.”

All eyes were on him immediately, so Harry swallowed and said, “I have been struggling to cope, lately. Ever since the case with Lucia…it took its toll on all of us and what happened to Neville, it affected our family just like what happened to Theo affected your family.”

Draco cast his gaze down, knowing fine well where this was going.

“And to cope with everything, I found myself drinking more than I ought to again,” Harry said quietly, “So I am seeking help and I will no longer drink alcohol of any variety.”

Cygnus bowed his head, “I can respect that decision, son. Even if you have been putting my daughter through hell in recent weeks.”

Daphne scoffed, “Dad, you have _no_ right to accuse Harry of putting me through hell. I know you have made amends, but _you_ put me through hell as a child, and I was your flesh and blood. Harry has always put the children and me first, so take that comment back.”

Cygnus swallowed, “I apologise, Harry.”

Harry shook his head, “I haven’t been a good enough husband, Cygnus. I know that, and Daphne knows that I will do everything that I can to make things right.”

Draco handed him a glass of sparkling water and murmured, “I’m sorry, I should have seen it, Harry.”

Harry frowned, “Don’t be sorry, Draco.”

“You’re my Auror partner,” Draco said, meeting Harry’s eye, “I should have noticed, and I didn’t. You noticed when my head was up my arse because of everything that was going on with Theo so I should have noticed this.”

Harry smiled sadly and gripped Draco’s shoulder, “Draco, you’re not a bad partner or a bad Auror. I’m just good at hiding things, especially my feelings. It’s an art form that I’ve been perfecting since I was about five years old, so don’t take it personally.”

Draco nodded, and the sound of clicking heels alerted them to the fact that Astoria had entered the room, “Aw cute. Draco is doing the whole eyesex bonding thing with Harry now. I thought it was just you that he did that with, Theo pet.”

“Don’t call me pet,” Theo said distastefully.

“He’s not your pet,” Sadie added firmly.

“Of course,” Astoria smirked, “He’s yours.”

Theo moved to stand up, but Sadie put a hand in front of him and shook her head.

“Down boy,” Astoria teased.

Daphne rolled her eyes, “Do you know what, Astoria? I’ve had enough of the double act - drop the sassy, bitchy CEO persona for five minutes and just be Astoria Greengrass, please. We’re your family.”

“ _You_ need to calm down, Daphne,” Astoria said matter of factly as she helped herself to a glass of wine.

Daphne glared at her, “Well if you had been around more, or if you had even shown up here on time then you would know why I’m stressed, but you show up for five minutes, and when I do see you, all you want to do is whine about _your_ problems!”

“Girls,” Narcissa tried to cut in.

“My problems are pretty big right now!” Astoria snapped.

Daphne laughed humourlessly, “Really? Did you know that my husband is an alcoholic? Did you know that he got drunk last night and that I went home with my best friend and lay in bed crying, wondering if this was going to be the end of the line for us because I couldn’t become the wife that our mother was! I spent hours crying to Lilly, who didn’t need that shit because she’s pregnant with bloody twins! And the worst part was that as much as I love her, it wasn’t her I wanted. I wanted to be with you in that stupid room in Greengrass house with the blankets and the stars. I wanted you to be the one to tell me that I’m not a trophy wife and that Harry wouldn’t drink his life away and gradually get more aggressive like you did, Dad!”

Daphne spun around with tears in her eyes and glared at her father, “And then for you to have the nerve to say that Harry is putting me through hell? You put us through hell with your drinking! You were so drunk you didn’t realise your daughters were in the house when you set it alight!”

“Daphne,” Astoria said, reaching out and grabbing her sisters arm.

But Daphne brushed it off, “No!” she barked, “You didn’t know any of that because you were too busy fucking some Auror that you took home just to piss off Charlie!”

Astoria’s eyes widened.

“What?” Cygnus asked coolly.

Daphne looked between them and shook her head, “Unbelievable! He doesn’t even know?”

“I didn’t know how to tell him,” Astoria said quietly.

“Tell me what?” Cygnus asked, pushing himself to his feet and looking between his daughters.

Daphne took a step away from Astoria, “That she and Charlie are divorced. It’s all signed, sealed and settled. Charlie kept the dragons and got some money out of it, and Astoria got everything else which would have been fine if she hadn’t paraded some Auror in front of Charlie at the party last night because he refused to have one last tryst with her!”

Astoria snapped at those words, she pulled her wand out of her pocket and pointed it at Daphne, “That wasn’t what it was about at all!”

“Don’t even try it!” Daphne said, pulling her wand on her sister, “Sitting at a desk all day won’t have done anything to improve your already poor duelling ability, Astoria.”

Harry looked on helplessly. Draco grabbed him by the wrist as he made to walk away.

“Are you okay?”

Harry shook his head in response, “I didn’t know any of that, I didn’t know she felt that way about me…that she’s terrified I’ll become like her father,” he admitted, not even bothering to wipe the tears that were unwittingly spilling from his eyes.

“ _Expelliarmus_!”

Daphne shielded it quickly, “Really, Astoria? A schoolgirl spell? _Stupefy_!”

“Predictable,” Astoria said, ducking to avoid it.

“Girls!” Narcissa snapped, “We are purebloods; we do not duel in the drawing-rooms of our own homes like barbarians!”

“Sorry Narcissa, but she’s had this coming for a long time now,” Daphne said, throwing up a shield charm as Astoria threw another basic hex at her.

Daphne cast a flock of birds in Astoria’s direction, but Astoria just spun them around and sent them back to Daphne. With a wave of her wand, Daphne banished them.

“ _Glacius_!” Astoria yelled.

Daphne laughed and defended against the spell, “You always did try and copy me, didn’t you Astoria? Do you want to see how it’s really done?”

Astoria glared at her sister, and Daphne fired, “ _Glacius_!” at her feet.

Astoria defended at chest height and slipped on the suddenly icy floor, she fell back against a side table and two of the legs split.

“That is _mahogany_!” Narcissa cried in disbelief.

As she regained her composure, Astoria sent a curse flying at Daphne and Harry reacted the moment he saw purple sparks. He jumped forward and threw up a shield charm that was so strong it cancelled out all enchantments and silenced both Daphne and Astoria.

He threw his hands out to the side and disarmed both women without a single incantation or wand movement.

“Enough,” Harry said quietly, his voice lower than usual.

The sound sent shivers down Draco’s spine because he knew that something was seriously wrong. He looked at his friend's hands and surely enough, they were clenched into fists and emitting a bright orange glow. Harry hurtled at the door, threw himself out of it and disappeared with the crack of apparition.

Draco took a shaky breath, “Sadie, take Daphne home and stay with her. Theo, you need to stay here and keep an ear out for the kids.”

Sadie simply nodded.

Draco turned to his wife, “Hermione, do you have any idea where he might have gone because his hands-”

“He was losing control of his magic,” Hermione said with a nod, “And yes, I think I know where he might have gone. When he’s panicking and only has a split second to decide, he always goes to the Forest of Dean - it’s his safe haven.”

Draco nodded and moved towards the back door.

“Draco, no,” Theo said, pushing himself to his feet, “Your mother is more than capable of keeping an ear out for the kids, and you can’t go after him on your own.”

Draco turned around in the doorway, “I have to, Theo. I don’t have time to argue with you on this one.”

“Like hell you don’t,” Theo said, grabbing his hand, “You want to get yourself killed in an explosion of accidental magic?”

“I’m more powerful than you know,” Draco said, catching Theo’s eye.

“I know you are, but you are no match for Harry Potter,” Theo said, maintaining eye contact, “You need back-up.”

“No,” Draco said firmly, “Your magic isn’t fully restored. You would be a liability, Theo, I can’t take you with me. I’ll find him, and I’ll take him home. He’s my Auror partner; it’s my job to find him.”

Theo looked like he had been physically slapped. He dropped Draco’s hand like it was a hot coal.

“I’m sorry,” Draco said, turning around and vanishing with a crack.

Narcissa and Cygnus shared a concerned look, and Theo kicked the wall angrily, “I swear if his last words to me were ‘I’m sorry’ then I’m going to resurrect his stupid arse and kick the shit out of his ghost!”

“At least you got a goodbye,” Hermione said pointedly.

Theo sighed and crossed the room, pulling Hermione into a hug, “Sorry, princess,” he murmured, and it was how Hermione knew that things were serious. That old nickname was always used in jest; it was never spoken softly as a term of endearment like that.

Hermione hugged him back, a little more tightly than she would have done before his death and the whole ordeal that they had been through since then.

Sadie walked forward and took the silencing charm off of Daphne, who was leaning against the fireplace. The moment the charm was lifted, they could hear Daphne’s quiet sobs.

“Come on, love,” Sadie said, pulling her old friend into a hug.

Daphne gripped her tightly, screwing her eyes shut as she clung onto Sadie as if she was the oxygen that she needed to breathe.

“We need to get you home,” Sadie whispered, “Do you want Lilly?”

“No,” Daphne said, trying to catch her breath, “I just want, you Sadie. I don’t want to worry Lilly, I can’t, she’s got so much going on and I can’t-”

Sadie hushed her, “It’s okay, I told you a long time ago that just because you and Lilly were getting closer, it didn’t mean you were losing me. You have been my friend for such a long time, and you will never lose me, you understand?”

Daphne pulled back and nodded; it was rare to see her so vulnerable. Sadie had of course, and Hermione had too, but other people in that room had never seen Daphne without her mask on.

“Come on,” Sadie said, reaching down and grabbing her hand, “I’m taking you home and,” she turned to Theo, “I might not be home tonight. I think I might need to repay Daphne for that year during the war when she let me sleep in her bed because I was lonely and scared.”

Theo nodded, “She’s one of your best friends, and she’s our family. You do whatever you need to do to help her, okay?”

Sadie bowed her head in recognition and led Daphne out of the room.

Hermione sighed and nudged her head in Astoria’s direction, “Next.”

Theo removed the silencing charm on Astoria, but the younger Greengrass sister didn’t immediately say anything. She was sitting on the sofa with her head in her hands, they couldn’t see her face, but from the way that her shoulders were shaking, they could tell that she was crying.

Cygnus crossed the room and placed his hand on his youngest daughters shoulder, “Tori, I think we ought to go for a walk. We have some things to talk about.”

“Why?” Astoria asked quietly.

“Because I was 18 when my brother screwed up an important business deal and was fired as the CEO of Greengrass Industries,” Cygnus replied softly, “I was a few days shy of 19 when my father instated me as the head of the business. I was 21 when the strain of that started to affect my health, and by the time I was forced to marry your mother at 28, I was so deep down that rabbit hole that I stood no chance of being a good husband or father. I know what it is like, I know what strain you are under so please, let me help you.”

Astoria nodded tearfully and took his hand. Cygnus lead her out into the darkened grounds, and Hermione let out a shaky breath.

“Well, wasn’t this a lovely, relaxing evening?” Narcissa remarked sarcastically.

“Sorry, Narcissa,” Hermione said apologetically, “I think it’s just been a long day for a lot of us, and we are under a lot of strain at the moment.”

Narcissa kissed Hermione on the cheek, “Do not apologise my love. I understand, but I would advise you both to give Draco some slack when he returns tonight. He is simply doing what a good Auror partner ought to do, and jealousy should not come into that, Theodore.”

Theo rolled his eyes in response.

“Harry is his Auror partner and a very close friend,” Hermione agreed, looking over at Theo, “You are far more than that, and you always have been - you know that.”

Narcissa nodded, “If you are in agreement, Cygnus and I shall spend the night in the portcullis bedroom.”

“Of course,” Hermione replied, “You know that the room is there for you whenever you should need it.”

The tall, greying woman bowed her head and walked away with her head held high.

The moment she was gone, Hermione let out a breath and collapsed next to Theo on the sofa, “I’m so tired.”

“I know,” Theo said, pulling a blanket over them.

“I don’t just mean because I need sleep, Theo,” Hermione said quietly, “I’m tired of this life and I…I don’t know how much longer I can keep up the act. Seeing Harry and Daphne lose it like that tonight…it brings it all home. We all married young, we had kids young, and maybe we did make mistakes. There are four couples in this group, even more if you include the likes of Ron, Ginny and Susan – and statistically-”

“Princess,” Theo said, his hand dropping to her shoulder, “This is real life, you can’t base it on statistics. Hardly any of the people you mentioned have had a perfect life, have they? Harry and Daphne have had to battle so many demons, and Neville and Lilly nearly split up on more than one occasion. Sadie and I nearly lost it all after what Lucia did to my head. Ron finally found happiness after a series of fuck ups and Ginny, well I mean come on – I don’t even have to say it.”

Hermione sniffled and brought the blanket up to her face.

“So just talk to me about what’s going on with you and Draco,” Theo finished.

“He didn’t talk to me about it before he bought this castle,” Hermione said tearfully, “I knew that the plan was to buy a bigger house somewhere isolated. He wanted clean air and space, and somewhere you could hunt. He wanted somewhere big enough for all of us, but he never told me that it was going to be a castle and now,” she paused and sucked in a shaky breath, “Now we live in a castle with no electricity, a medieval heating system and house elves! And I never wanted that Theo, I mean I never wanted to live like a muggle, but I never wanted to live like a pureblood either!”

Theo sighed and pulled her in tight against his side. Hermione burrowed her head in his chest and cried quietly, and Theo let her get it all out. He held her tightly and pressed a kiss onto the top of her hair.

“You need to tell him that,” Theo said, “Because he loves you more than anything and he would do anything that it took to please you. It doesn’t matter how much it will cost him; he will install electricity and get someone to upgrade the heating if that’s what makes you happy. Hell, I’ll replace the windows myself to help with the drafts, Mione.”

Hermione clutched at the blanket.

“This is our home,” Theo said, taking her hand in his, “Not Draco’s, it’s a home for all of us and for that to work, we all need to be happy here. You hear me?”

“Yes,” Hermione mumbled into the blanket.

“So once this is all over, we’ll talk to him,” Theo said, “And we’ll fix it.”

“Thank you, Theo,” Hermione murmured.

The weight of what had happened had just hit her like a ton of bricks, and she suddenly felt unbelievably exhausted.

“Go to sleep, princess,” She heard Theo say.

“Mhm,” Hermione hummed.

“I’ll keep watch,” Theo promised.

And Hermione believed him. She drifted off into an uneasy sleep with her head on his shoulder and her hand in his.

* * *

Draco expected to find Harry in the middle of a levelled forest. He did not expect to find him in a crater that looked to be at least twenty feet deep. It looked like a shooting star had fallen to earth and created it, and he couldn’t fathom how a wizard – even one as powerful as Harry – had managed.

At first, Draco panicked because he couldn’t see any sign of movement and he worried that Harry had burned himself out. He scrambled down the crater and blew out a sigh of relief when he realised that Harry was shaking.

Draco knelt next to him and shook him lightly, “Harry.”

There was no response, other than a particularly violent shudder from the dark-haired man.

“Harry,” Draco said again, gripping Harry’s wrist and feeling his pulse which was much faster than usual, “Oh shit, no…”

He gripped Harry’s face and turned it so he could get a good look, Harry’s olive skin was deathly pale, and despite the fact he was shaking, he was also coated in sweat.

“Harry, you have burnt out your magical core,” Draco said, “I need to get you to a Healer.”

“No,” Harry murmured, “Not Lilly, no…no. Neville…Not Lilly.”

“It’s not Neville,” Draco said, grabbing Harry’s hand, “It’s me, it’s Draco.”

Harry shook his head, then his body convulsed and Draco cursed. Harry was in a very bad way, and he needed to be seen by a Healer ASAP. Draco couldn’t take him to Lilly, and he didn’t want to take him to the hospital because if he did that then the press could cotton and they would paint this as a suicide attempt because even Draco had to admit, it did look like one.

“Ginny,” Draco realised suddenly. He reached down and pulled Harry up.

The dark-haired man could barely stand without help, so Draco wasted no time in apparating to the gates of the house that Blaise had built for Ginny when she had given birth to Hope. He hit the gate and shouted, “Blaise, let me in! Harry’s dying, I need Ginny!”

The gate swung open immediately, and Draco lugged Harry up to the house. The door opened as he reached it and Blanche grabbed Harry’s other side.

“There’s a bedroom in here,” She said, shoving open a door with her elbow, “Gin, it’s bad! Hurry!”

There was a clatter from up above, and Ginny ran into the room a few seconds later.

“I think he’s in hypoglycemic shock,” Draco said quickly, “When I found him, he was shaking but sweaty, and you can see how pale he is. He had a seizure just now, and he seems to be hallucinating because he thinks I’m Neville.”

Ginny did a quick diagnostic charm and cursed, “He’s burnt out his magical core, and his blood sugar levels are practically non-existent because his body is trying with all it has to replenish his magic. Blanche, get me that-”

Blanche was already pushing a potions cart into the room from the lab across the hall. Ginny opened it and swiped her finger along quickly then she pulled a bottle out and cast a spell similar to the one that Lilly had used to take Harry’s blood earlier that day. It punctured his arm, and Ginny slotted the end of a plastic tube into a vein. She then connected that up with the bottle, and they all watched as shiny purple fluid began to pump into Harry’s veins.

Ginny checked his vitals, “That will replenish his blood sugar levels, but the damage has already been done to some of his organs, chiefly his liver and his kidneys which are already shot thanks to his drinking problem.”

“But you can fix that, can’t you?”

“To a degree,” Ginny answered, “I can put a few years back on his life, but I can’t give him back all of the ones he lost with his stupid decisions.”

Draco sighed and leant against the door, “When I found him in that crater, I thought he was dead.”

“What made him lose control of his magic like that?” Ginny asked, fixing Draco with a concerned look, “Because for Harry to lose control…it must have been bad.”

“Things with him and Daphne are tough right now,” Draco admitted, “I don’t want to say any more than that because it's not my place.”

“Fair enough,” Blanche said, placing her hand on Ginny’s shoulder, “You should sit down while you treat him babe, it's late.”

Ginny nodded and sat down, her eyes flicking towards Blaise who was standing in the doorway like a statue.

“Why did you bring him here instead of to the hospital?” Blaise asked Draco.

“Because hospitals have Medi-Witches who gossip to the press and it doesn’t take a reporter to look at this and see what you three see,” Draco said dryly.

Blanche bit her lip, “It does look like a suicide attempt, Draco.”

“It wasn’t,” Draco defended Harry, “It wasn’t, okay? He just…he just couldn’t take it anymore, he lost control. He didn’t go out there to take his own life.”

But the truth was that Draco didn’t know that. What if Harry had gotten to that forest then decided that he couldn’t do it anymore? That he didn’t want to? He sighed shakily.

“On the bright side, he doesn’t have brain damage,” Ginny said. She placed her hand on Harry’s wrist, “And his pulse is slowing down. I will need to brew something for the damage to his liver and kidneys, though.”

Draco nodded, “Thank you, Ginny.”

Ginny leant back in her chair, “I’ll make that remedy, but once I’ve administered it, you can take him home if you think that’s a good idea?”

Draco shook his head, “No, home is not a good idea, but I will take him to Longbottom House.”

“Alright,” Ginny said, pushing herself to her feet.

Blanche slipped her arm through Ginny’s, and the two women pushed the potions cart back into the lab.

Draco sat down in the seat that Ginny had just vacated by Harry’s bed.

“Are you going to stay with him?” Blaise asked curiously.

“He’s my Auror partner,” Draco said simply, “I owe it to him to stay. He would do the same for me.”

Blaise smiled and patted Draco on the shoulder, “You’re a good man, Draco,” he said before he swept out of the room.

* * *

When Neville and Lilly heard the front door open, they looked at each other in surprise. Daphne and Harry had left via floo, so they had expected them to return in the same way.

As such, they were already on their feet when they heard Sadie murmur, “Go on up to bed.”

“Can you come with me?”

“Of course, I can. I’ll be there in a minute.”

The sound of heels being kicked off onto a hard floor echoed around the entrance hall as Neville and Lilly emerged from the kitchen to see Daphne dragging herself upstairs.

Sadie motioned back to the kitchen and lowered her voice, “We should talk.”

Lilly nodded and took a step back so that Sadie could come into the kitchen. The blonde woman shut the door behind her and sighed, “It’s been a long night, especially for Daphne and Harry.”

“Why?” Neville asked sharply.

“What happened?” Lilly followed it up with.

“Daphne snapped,” Sadie admitted, “I think we’ve all been expecting it since Theo died. We all knew that she wasn’t okay, even though she pushed through and helped everyone else despite sinking even deeper into her own depression. Harry drinking again, it seems to have been the catalyst, and she had a bit of a breakdown tonight.”

Lilly’s eyes widened, “Do you mean, magically?”

Sadie shook her head, “ _She_ didn’t lose control of her magic; she just cried and yelled. But some of the things she said brought some harsh truths to light which was hard for Harry to hear. He did very impressive wandless and non-verbal magic then he apparated away, with glowing hands.”

“No,” Neville muttered, “No, when did this happen?”

“Earlier tonight, but it’s okay,” Sadie promised in that soothing tone that she had mastered so well, “Draco went after him.”

“Draco can’t stop him,” Neville said in disbelief, “The only one who is a match for him is me.”

“Maybe that was true once,” Sadie said, meeting Neville’s eye, “When you were at full fitness, but right now, you aren’t. I know it’s hard for you and Theo to sit on the sidelines when you are both used to running straight into the fire, Neville, but you have to. Harry and Draco are Auror partners now and very much a match for each other where their magic is concerned. That was why it had to be Draco who went after him tonight.”

Lilly gripped Neville’s arm, “She’s right, Nev.”

Neville swallowed and nodded, looking just as down as Theo had when Draco had run off without him.

“Just like Daphne doesn’t need me tonight,” Lilly added, looking at Sadie knowingly, “She needs you.”

Sadie half-smiled, “Perceptive of you, but not entirely right. In an ideal world, of course, it’s you who she would want tonight, but she already feels guilty for putting her problems on you because of what she perceives to be your fragile position. She loves you, and she wants to protect you which means that she has to keep the way that she’s feeling to herself, but I’m not fragile so she can scream at me or throw curses around the room if that’s what she needs to do to feel better.”

“I get it,” Lilly promised. She got to her feet and hugged Sadie, “But the minute she’s feeling better, I’ll show her just how fragile I am.”

Sadie chuckled, “I’m sure you will, but for the moment, I’ll look after her.”

“Thanks, Sadie,” Neville said. He reached down and took Lilly’s hand, “I know you think you aren’t fragile, but I beg to differ. Let’s wait at home because I think that’s where Harry will want to go after all of this.”

Lilly nodded and sent one last half-smile Sadie’s way as a goodbye before letting Neville lead her into the entrance hall.

* * *

After he had managed to convince Lilly to go to bed, Neville went downstairs, put the coffee on and set himself up in front of the fireplace. He had a feeling that Harry would come here, and rightly enough, just after midnight, there was a knock on the door.

Neville told the house-elf to go back to bed, and he answered the door himself. He knew it wasn’t Harry because he would have just walked in; he would never have knocked.

Draco smiled through his exhaustion when Neville answered the door, “I thought I ought to bring him home, or a little closer to it than he was before.”

Neville looked at his best friend who was levitating by Draco’s side, “Come in,” he said simply.

Draco brought Harry into the house and lay him down on the sofa then he collapsed into a chair by the fire.

“How bad?” Neville asked, gesturing at Harry and handing Draco a cup of coffee.

“Thanks,” Draco said, his own eyes falling on Harry, “He’s doing okay now, but if I hadn’t found him when I did…”

Neville stood over Harry and touched his face, “He’s cold and pale.”

“He went into hypoglycemic shock,” Draco said, resting his head on his index fingers – his coffee awaiting him on the table by his chair, “He was having seizures and hallucinating, he thought I was you.”

Neville swallowed hard, “Because it should have been me - if it wasn’t for my damn back-”

“But it is for your back,” Draco cut in, “Six months, Neville. That’s the healing time; you are nowhere near the six-month mark, so there was no way that you were ready to run after your idiotic best friend.”

Neville said nothing.

Draco sighed, “I know Harry and I being partners is changing things within the friend group. It was bound to happen, and I do have faith that when we all get used to it, the dust will settle.”

Neville looked up at the blond man, “You really think it’s going to be that easy? It’s fine for you and Harry; you’re the ones who are still Aurors.”

“And look at how that is going for us,” Draco said softly, “I nearly lost my entire family because I lost myself in work, I was desperate to find Theo, and then I was desperate to find justice for Theo.”

Neville swallowed.

“And look at Harry, he barely knows his youngest daughter. He has run himself into the ground; he’s a mess,” Draco continued, “Being the only two left doesn’t make it easier for us, Neville. We have to find ways to cope without you and Theo because you were the ones who dragged us out of work, you were the ones who reminded us that we had lives and that the case could wait until Monday. Without that, Harry and I lose ourselves in our work. We’re a good team, everyone says it and we know it – we work well together, we complement the others duelling style, but we’re also bad for each other. We drag the other in, and we keep them going with coffee or with a new idea – you two, you were the ones who stopped us.”

Neville sighed heavily, “I’m a terrible friend.”

“No, you aren’t,” Draco cut in, “Don’t go down that route. It’s not your job to come into the ministry and drag Harry’s arse home, not anymore.”

“He’s still my best friend,” Neville said firmly, “Regardless of whether he’s my Auror partner or not, but I’ve been so focused on Lilly and the pregnancy, and my bloody injury that I haven’t been paying enough attention to everything else. I didn’t even realise that he was drinking again, Draco. _Lilly_ noticed, but I didn’t notice. How could I not notice that my best friend is an alcoholic again?”

“He never stopped being an alcoholic,” Draco said, his eyes falling on Harry, “He just stopped managing it as well. For the past five years, he has constantly wrestled with this, Neville. It hasn’t just gone away and it probably never will. I think if we want to help him, we all need to be aware of that.”

Neville let his head fall into his hands.

“And the other thing?” Draco said, leaning forward in his chair, “We all need to be there for Daphne too. This doesn’t just affect Harry - it affects his whole family, and I’m sure you know the ins and outs more than I do, but Daphne and Harry are struggling.”

“I don’t know!” Neville snapped, “I spend most of my days with Daphne, and I had no idea. I knew she was struggling to keep on top of things with the kids, and I knew that Harry was working too much, but I had _no_ idea that it was this bad, Draco.”

“Your as bad as Harry,” Draco said in disbelief, “You’ve had a life-changing, and it was very nearly a life-ending, injury. You need to focus on yourself; you _need_ to get better because we all need you. Not just Lilly and your future kids, or Harry and Daphne. _All_ of us, Neville. We might have split off into different factions these days, but we’re still one big, dysfunctional family, and we would be just as cut up about you doing something stupid and getting yourself killed as we would be if Harry’s attempt to kill himself had worked tonight.”

“He didn’t try and kill himself!” Neville snapped.

“I don’t want to believe it either,” Draco said calmly, “I defended him to the Zabini’s when they fixed him up because I know Blaise and Blanche thought that too. But look at him, look at what happened tonight.”

Neville shook his head, “No.”

“Neville,” Draco said quietly, “We need to face the fact that he tried to kill himself because if he did, we’re going to have to help him deal with that.”

Neville swallowed a lump that had risen in his throat.

“He’s your family,” Draco said softly, “You would do anything for him, and you feel like you’ve failed him. I know how that feels, Neville – but trust me, you didn’t fail him. He failed himself.”

Neville frowned, “He’s not my family.”

“Yes, he is,” Draco said. He sipped his coffee, “He’s your brother.”

Neville looked up sharply, “What?”

“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice the signs?” Draco asked with a raised an eyebrow, “I might have been terrible at it, but I was a Death Eater. I know the signs of blood magic, like the unhealable scars that you two both have on your forearms. You swore each other in, you’re blood brothers.”

Neville just nodded.

“I assume you kept it secret because of how crude and pagan it is,” Draco said.

“Yeah, that was the main reason why,” Neville said with a shrug, “And we didn’t feel like anyone apart from Lilly and Daphne needed to know.”

“Hm,” Draco mused, “How very barbaric of you,” he smirked.

“Of course, I forgot that you were practising the perfectly acceptable pureblood way of life,” Neville shot back with a sly smile, “Of having a wife but a man on the side.”

Draco laughed, “Touche.”

Neville shook his head in amusement and looked down at Harry, “Is he going to be okay?”

“I think so. As I said, the Zabinis fixed him up,” Draco explained, “I didn’t want to panic Lilly or more to the point, he didn’t. He was on the brink of death and hallucinating, but he still kept saying ‘not Lilly’.”

Neville frowned, “No…I don’t think he was referring to our Lilly. I think those words were amongst the last that his father ever said before he died.”

Draco’s eyes widened, “You think his life was flashing before him?”

“Maybe,” Neville said, his eyes full of concern for his best friend.

“Sweet Salazar,” Draco muttered, “If I had realised that, I would have taken him to hospital, but I didn’t want to risk the press catching on.”

“You did the right thing,” Neville assured Draco, “Ginny is a great Healer.”

“She did a good job,” Draco promised, “She repaired the damage that had been done to his liver and kidneys when he went into shock. She said she managed to reverse most of it but his drinking and what happened tonight probably did shave a few years off his life.”

Neville sighed upon hearing that news.

“She got his blood sugar levels back to normal so when he wakes up, he might have a bit of a headache, but he should be okay,” Draco continued, “His magic won’t be back to full strength for another couple of days though.”

“You think he’s safe to go to work tomorrow?” Neville asked Draco.

“Check the five basic protection and defence spells with him and if he can do them then yes, he can come in,” Draco answered, “He won’t be up to much, but I’ll have his back. There’s no way I’m letting him out in the field tomorrow, trust me.”

“I do,” Neville said sincerely, “And thank you, for everything that you did tonight.”

Draco nodded and put his coffee mug down, “I need to get home. Theo was worried about me when I ran off without back-up.”

“Yeah, I can’t say I blame him,” Neville said, patting Draco on the back, “Seriously, thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Draco said with a small smile.

He then threw some floo powder into the fireplace and said, “Blacknot Castle!”

There was a whoosh, and he disappeared from view.

* * *

Draco smiled when he walked into the drawing-room and saw Hermione fast asleep on Theo’s lap. He had wrapped her up in blankets, and he had a book hovering in front of him. Every so often he was flicking his fingers to turn the pages.

“Impressive wandless magic, for a guy who thinks his magical core will never go back to normal,” Draco mused.

Theo looked up and smiled, “I’m cheating,” he said, slipping his wand out of the sleeve of his shirt, “See?”

“Ah,” Draco smiled, “All the same, it looks cool.”

Theo chuckled.

“Thank you for looking after her,” Draco said, sitting down on an armchair opposite the sofa, “And I’m sorry, for the way that I left.”

“I felt put out at the time, but I understand it now,” Theo promised his best friend.

“What changed your opinion?” Draco asked curiously.

“Not what, who,” Theo answered, “When Narcissa Black tells you what to do, it tends to put you in your place.”

Draco chuckled lowly.

Theo’s smile was a little more rueful when he said, “Draco, you _really_ need to talk to Hermione. She’s not in a good place right now, and if you want your relationship to last, you need to talk about it.”

“What do you mean?” Draco asked sharply, “I know we’ve been arguing a little more lately, but it’s just because we have two young kids.”

“No, it’s not,” Theo whispered, “It’s because she has so much going on in her head, and she doesn’t feel like she can talk to you about it. You didn’t ask her opinion before you bought a castle, you just did it, for me.”

“Theo-”

“No, Draco, you need to hear me out,” Theo said sternly, “You didn’t do it for her, and you didn’t consider her feelings when you did it. She hates the cold, and this place has drafty windows and a heating system from another century. She doesn’t have all her home comforts because there’s no electricity.”

“But it’s like Hogwarts,” Draco said helplessly.

“And not everyone liked living in a draughty old castle,” Theo said pointedly, “She was raised in a warm house with electricity, Draco. This isn’t the life she wanted; this is the life she expected Draco Malfoy to give her – a draughty old home run by servants, servants who raise her children for her and cook for her.”

Draco looked down guiltily.

“It wasn’t the life she expected Draco Black to give her,” Theo said softly, “She liked Grimmauld Place, she liked the mixture of wizarding and muggle. I know that we moved here for me, but we need to make this a home for all four of us, and that starts with prioritising Hermione’s needs.”

Draco nodded and looked up, “We’ll talk to her in the morning, we’ll find out what she needs, and I’ll hire contractors to do all of the work. I don’t want to lose her over something like this, Theo. It’s trivial and she…she’s everything.”

Theo smiled, he reached out and grabbed his best friends hand, “And this is why she loves you because when you pull the stick out of your arse, you’re a pretty considerate guy.”

Draco half-smiled and patted Theo on the shoulder as he got up, “I need to sleep, Theo. I’ve got work in less than seven hours, and I’m wiped out.”

“I’ll look after the princess for you, don’t worry,” Theo promised.

“I know you will,” Draco said, “Night, Theo.”

“Goodnight, Draco.”

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	41. I Will Stand a Broken Man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title comes from the song:  
> Broken Man by Boys Like Girls.

When Harry woke up, he knew that it was early because the light behind his eyelids was orange which meant that the sun was rising. He opened his eyes and looked at his watch; it had just gone 7 am.

Harry knew straight away that he wasn’t in Potter Manor, but he was most certainly in the Lake District because the sunrise time was spot on. Without his glasses, he couldn’t see much of his surroundings, but he knew from his calculations that he was in Longbottom House.

“Morning,” Neville’s voice said.

Harry turned his head to the side and saw the blurry outline of Neville, “Glasses?”

Neville placed them on his face, and Harry sat up, wincing as he did so. When his eyes fell on his best friend, he felt his stomach twist guiltily because of the worry on Neville’s face.

“Harry,” Neville said quietly, “I know that you don’t need me to tell you what this looks like.”

Harry frowned, “Neville…”

“You were found in a crater,” Neville said quietly, “Blood sugar levels so low that you went into hypoglycemic shock. When Draco brought you here last night, Ginny had already fixed you up, but we didn’t talk much about what this meant.”

Harry opened his mouth then shut it again.

“When someone loses control of their magic, it’s an uncontrollable explosion of fire,” Neville said, his eyes on Harry, “I’ve done it, and you’ve seen that. We’ve worked countless cases where we’ve seen the fall out of that. But for someone to channel every ounce of their magic downwards, for someone to pour their magic into the earth like that - it’s not uncontrollable, Harry.”

“Neville, please-”

“Let me finish,” Neville said, his voice lower than usual, “When someone burns themselves out on purpose like that, in the middle of a forest where they think nobody will find them – that’s not an accident, that’s a suicide attempt.”

Harry shook his head, “No, Neville, I didn’t mean it like that, I swear.”

Neville swallowed and looked at his best friend. He didn’t say anything, but Harry knew that he was demanding an explanation.

“I got to that forest, and I was scared. I knew I was going to lose control,” Harry explained quickly, “So rather than losing control and potentially levelling the entirety of the Forest of Dean and hurting a lot of people, I…I just…I thought it would be easier if I destroyed myself rather than all of that.”

“Like hell, it wasn’t a suicide attempt then,” Neville retorted, “And what right do you have to do that, huh? Do you realise how many other people you would be destroying if your stupid little plan had succeeded? You would ruin Daphne’s life, and your children would grow up without a father! Lilly would be beyond devastated, and what about me, Harry?”

“Nev-”

“No!” Neville snapped, “Answer me one question. When you channelled all of that magic into the ground, when you burned yourself our then lay down and waited to die. Did you stop for one minute and think about what that could do to us?”

“No,” Harry said honestly, “I didn’t think. I just…I lay down, and I had every intention of calling Hermione and telling her where I was, but I was so tired, Nev. I was just…so tired.”

“You need help,” Neville said, grabbing Harry’s hand, “And you need it right now. This cannot happen again, do you hear me? You are not about to leave me just as my life is getting good. It’s my shot at all the happiness you got, it’s my turn to be a Dad, and I need you there for that, Harry! I can’t do it without you.”

Harry pushed himself up shakily and hugged Neville as tightly as he could, given how weak he was, “I’m sorry,” he said as the tears he had been holding back spilt, “I’m so sorry, Nev.”

Neville hugged him back just as tightly then released him. His eyes landed on Harry’s, “Sorry isn’t going to fix it this time, Harry.”

“I know,” Harry wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his shirt, “I know it won’t and I swear to you, I will go to Caroline today. Do you really think Draco won’t make me anyway? If he found me last night…I can only imagine the state I was in.”

“You were five minutes shy of dead so yeah, you owe the guy a thank you,” Neville said dryly.

Harry looked down, “I am sorry, Neville and whatever it takes for you to forgive me-”

“I forgive you,” Neville cut in.

Harry looked up in surprise.

“I’m just worried about you,” Neville finished, “Really worried, Harry. You scared me last night, and I’ve not been that scared in a long, long time.”

Harry swallowed and nodded, looking down at his hands which he had been wringing together subconsciously. He didn’t blame Neville for being worried about him because he knew if the roles were reversed, he would have been furious at Neville.

* * *

When Lilly walked into the kitchen of Longbottom House on Monday morning, she knew something serious had happened. Neville was sitting in a chair at the dining room table, and from the way his body was shaking, she suspected that he was crying.

“Neville,” She said softly.

Neville sat up and tried to smile, “Morning, baby.”

Lilly frowned and sat down, “Did he come home?”

Neville nodded, “Draco brought him home.”

Lilly looked around, “And where is he now?”

“At work,” Neville said, wiping his eyes hastily.

Lilly’s frown deepened, “Work? But…”

“He’s okay, physically,” Neville said quietly, “And he needs to talk to Caroline, so going to work is probably the best option.”

“What happened between you two last night?” Lilly asked, eyeing Neville with concern, “I can’t remember the last time that I saw you like this.”

Neville cleared his throat, “I feel like I failed him, Lil. I didn’t notice that he was drinking again; I didn’t know how bad things had gotten between him and Daphne. He tried to kill himself last night, and I didn’t know.”

Lilly’s eyes widened, “No. Harry loves his family; he wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t do that to us.”

Neville swallowed, “He didn’t do it maliciously. He didn’t write a suicide note or amend his will then slip off to do it. He lost control of his magic and in that split-second where he had to decide – he decided that sacrificing himself was better than levelling the Forest of Dean and hurting innocent people.”

“What about us?” Lilly asked furiously, “Did he think about us at all?”

“That’s the problem, Lilly,” Neville said, his voice breaking, “He _didn’t_ think.”

Lilly shook her head angrily, “How is Daphne?”

“I don’t know,” Neville confessed, “I don’t even know _if_ she knows.”

“Well someone needs to tell her,” Lilly said in disbelief.

“I know,” Neville agreed, “But it ought to be you.”

Lilly sighed and looked out of the window at the early morning sun, “I’ll go over later.”

“She isn’t going to take it well, is she?” Neville asked.

Lilly shook her head, “I always thought Harry and Daphne were the ones that would make it all the way. It seemed like whatever life threw at them, they would get through it but this…”

Neville swallowed and nodded, “I know.”

Lilly sat down opposite Neville. She reached across the table and took his hands in hers, “But we have to have faith, don’t we? Faith that it _will_ all work out? That together, we can fix this.”

“Yeah,” Neville agreed, managing a small smile, “But if there’s some sort of God up there, he’s making it really hard to keep having faith right now.”

“I know, baby,” Lilly said, squeezing his hand, “I know.”

* * *

Harry’s intention when he got to work on Monday morning was to tell Shep what was going on and head straight to Caroline’s office, but he had some unfinished business with Draco, so instead, he went to the Homicide Office.

When Harry walked in, the room was quiet, and the atmosphere was dire. For a moment, he was terrified that Draco had told the team what had happened, but the look that Draco gave him told him otherwise.

“Right everyone, listen up,” Draco said, pushing himself onto his desk and crossing one leg over the other, “It doesn’t take an expert from the ghoul division to feel the chill in here, and if we are going to work as a team and have each other’s backs, then we need to be straight with each other.”

Nobody said anything.

Draco rolled his eyes, “Let me spell this out for you then guys. Jason – quit sleeping with Astoria Greengrass. Yes, she’s hot, but she’s a hot mess and trust me, she is not worth the drama.”

“Yes sir,” Jason said, casting his eyes down.

“Also, quit feeling guilty about it,” Draco continued, “You didn’t break up any marriages. You just took a hot girl home and slept with her because you’re a single guy who doesn’t get out enough. What Dan chose to do with Charlie after that, it wasn’t on you.”

Ben cleared his throat, “No, it was on him.”

Draco looked at the young Auror, “Charlie had no idea that Dan had a boyfriend, Ben-”

“I know,” Ben cut in, “When I said it was on him, I meant that it was on Dan. It was Dan’s stupid decision, and it was Dan who I punched as hard as I could when I walked out yesterday so don’t expect me to be full of sunshine and bloody rainbows because I really liked him.”

Harry put his hand on Ben’s shoulder, “We’ve all had our hearts broken, Ben. We feel your pain. Do you have somewhere to stay?”

“Yeah, Terry has a spare room, so I’m crashing at his place,” Ben said offhandedly.

“Good,” Harry said simply.

Draco nodded his agreement, “While we’re airing out issues with the department – Harry is going to be working part-time for the next couple of weeks. He and his wife have been through a lot recently, and they need some time to work that out. I don’t want anyone gossiping that they are divorcing because that’s not the truth at all, but you know how intensive this job is and that’s hard when you have two kids, let alone four.”

“Draco-”

“I got here early and spoke to John,” Draco cut in, “He wants a word with you in his office, and I swear, you’re not in trouble. He knows as well as anyone that sometimes we need help and that in this line of work, we’re normally too proud to ask for it.”

Harry swallowed his pride and hugged Draco, “Thanks, man,” he muttered.

Draco whispered, “Are you okay?”

Harry shook his head and pulled back, “No, but I will be. I really can’t thank you enough for last night though.”

Draco shook his head, “We’ll talk about it later. For now, just get through the day.”

Harry nodded as Draco opened the door for him and nudged his head in the direction of John’s office. Harry knew how seriously John was taking this when he saw the Head Auror waiting for him in the doorway.

* * *

“Morning, sir.”

“Good morning, Harry,” John responded. He sat down behind his desk and motioned to the chair opposite, “Do you mind taking a seat? We need to have a chat this morning, off the record, don’t worry.”

Harry sat down nervously and looked at his boss. John was surveying him with a mixture of caution and concern.

“Okay, so I think the best course of action here is for me to be straight with you,” John confessed, “Draco came to me this morning and told me that there was an incident at the weekend. He says that in his opinion, you need to drop down to part-time for the moment while you sort through some stuff.”

“He’s not wrong,” Harry said quietly.

John bowed his head, “Okay, we will make that happen. But we need to talk about that incident because Draco assured me that it wasn’t a suicide attempt. He swore blind that you would never do something so foolish, and that it was an accident.”

Harry glanced down to hide the guilt in his eyes.

“But Neville floo-ed me first thing this morning too,” John continued, “And that wasn’t his opinion.”

“Draco was just being a good partner, Shep,” Harry said, unable to look his boss in the eye, “But Neville is right. It wasn’t a purposeful thing, and I didn’t go out there to do it but then…I know how powerful I am and I know the consequences that an explosion of accidental magic could have.”

“An earthquake,” John realised.

“Or worse,” Harry said quietly, “So in that split second, I thought it would just be easier to channel it myself. If my anger was going to explode like that better that it killed me than hurt innocent people.”

“Even when you try and kill yourself, you’re self-righteous about it,” John remarked, leaning back in his chair, “Do we need to put you on suicide watch?”

“I’m pretty sure that between them, Neville and Draco have that covered,” Harry confessed.

John raised an eyebrow, “That’s not what I’m asking you. I’m not asking you what your friends think. I’m asking you what you think. Do you think you’re going to do this again?”

“No,” Harry replied, “It was never my intention. I don’t know what came over me, but I swear, it was never my intention.”

John nodded, “Alright, but I’m relieving you of your command. For the next two weeks, at least, you are the Assistant Head Auror, but you are not the Head of Homicide. No fieldwork, not until Caroline has given you complete clearance.”

“I understand,” Harry said honestly.

“I want you to go straight to her office,” John added.

Harry got to his feet and nodded back, “I will.”

John looked like he wanted to say something more, but he didn’t. It wasn’t until Harry’s hand was on the handle that John said, “Harry?”

Harry turned around and looked at him, “Yeah?”

“I’m sorry,” John said genuinely, “I am so sorry that things got this bad and if there is anything I can do, either as your boss or your friend, please tell me.”

Harry managed a small smile, “Thanks, Shep,” he said simply before exiting the office.

* * *

When Harry walked into Caroline’s office in the Auror Training Centre, he got a distinct impression that she had been expecting him.

She smiled warmly at him, “Coffee?”

Harry sat down on the sofa opposite her desk, “Uh…no, thanks. Did Shep floo ahead to let you know I was coming?”

Caroline nodded, “He did, but he only gave me the cliff notes so you will have to fill me in on what’s happened.”

Harry took a deep breath then told her everything. From how he had started drinking more after Theo’s ‘death’ and how it had gradually gotten worse to the point that he didn’t realise how much he was drinking in a given night. He told her about the party and the argument with Daphne, he told her about the dinner at the castle, the duel and of how Draco had found him in a crater.

When he was done, Caroline leant back and said, “So you attempted to commit suicide.”

“No, I didn’t mean to,” Harry said with a shake of his head, “I just didn’t see another way out. I knew if my magic exploded, people would be hurt, so I figured that it was better to hurt myself.”

Caroline raised an eyebrow at him, “Talk me through what you did.”

“Channelled my magic through myself into the ground,” Harry explained.

“Lesser wizards would have spontaneously combusted,” Caroline remarked, “Did you know that?”

“The thought passed through my mind,” Harry admitted.

“And when you fell to the ground, were you able to move?” Caroline asked.

“A little,” Harry replied evasively.

“Did you have a mobile phone on you?”

Harry nodded.

“So why didn’t you use it?” Caroline asked simply.

“I was just too tired,” Harry whispered.

“And that is why it was a suicide attempt,” Caroline said, jotting something down on a piece of parchment, “That line of thinking is dangerous, and until I know that it won’t happen again, you are not allowed in the field.”

“Yeah, Shep said that,” Harry said glumly.

“What led to all of this?” Caroline asked him, “Besides Theo dying then coming back to life and the case with Lucia.”

“Things at home haven’t been easy,” Harry admitted, “Daphne and I have never had to try too much. Things have always slotted together for us, for the most part. We took to parenthood fine, but now…we’re struggling. We have four kids, Caroline, and we’re only 25. It’s a lot, and I love our kids, I really do, but it’s hard.”

“Of course it is,” Caroline said.

Harry let his head drop into his hands, “And everyone thinks we have it all together, but we don’t. We’re just pretending, putting up a front for everyone else because it feels like they always have more problems than us.”

“So you shoulder their problems as well as your own,” Caroline said knowingly, “You help everyone else, but you don’t take enough time to deal with your problems, and you need to, Harry.”

Harry swallowed and nodded.

“You need to go home and talk to your wife,” Caroline said softly, “You need to tell her what happened last night and you need to ask her how you can help her. Then you need to tell her how she can help you because the only way that you are going to get through this is together.”

“Yeah,” Harry whispered, “You’re right.”

“And at some point, I might well ask you to bring her to a meeting with me,” Caroline warned him.

Harry didn’t even joke about couples therapy; he just nodded with a distant look in his eyes.

Caroline observed him for a few minutes, “Harry, do you have _any_ idea what the lives of your loved ones would look like if you had died last night?”

Harry swallowed, “They would be miserable, I know.”

Caroline shook her head, “No, I don’t want to call you selfish, but you are not thinking about the consequences fully. I have an idea which will show you just what you would be doing to the people who you love, but you would have to give your consent.”

Harry frowned as Caroline slid a piece of parchment across her desk. He picked it up and scanned it, “Alternatis Mundi potion. That’s the ‘what if?’ potion, isn’t it?”

“You’re familiar with it?” Caroline asked.

“Draco and I had a mishap while brewing it at school,” Harry admitted.

Caroline leant forward, “If you consent, I would take a copy of your memories from last night and change the outcome to you dying. You would then see exactly what would happen to everyone in your life if your suicide attempt had been successful.”

“No,” Harry said quietly, “I don’t want to see that.”

“And that’s exactly why you need to,” Caroline said sternly, “You need to be aware of the consequences of your actions. Whether you went out there with the intent to kill yourself or not, it wouldn’t have mattered if you died. Do you realise that?”

Harry frowned down at the consent form.

“It won’t be easy,” Caroline warned him, “In fact, it might be the hardest thing that you will ever have to force yourself to watch, but you _need_ to see it.”

Deep down, Harry knew that she was right, but he felt sick at the very thought.

Caroline slid a quill across the desk, and Harry remained silent for a good few minutes as the words of Albus Dumbledore rang in his head – _sometimes we must do what is right over what is easy_.

With a heavy sigh, Harry grabbed the quill, dipped it in the inkpot next to him then signed the form.

Caroline took it back and signed it herself then she pulled a small glass bowl out of a cabinet. Harry watched her take a key out of her pocket, unlock a potions cabinet and take out a shimmering potion. She poured it into the glass bowl then looked up at Harry.

“Let me guess; you need me to project the memory of what happened last night to you?” Harry said.

“I know it will be hard, but yes,” Caroline replied.

Harry took a breath and shut his eyes. He focused on the memory, on his fear and confusion. He focused on his exhaustion, remembered the black spots that danced in front of his vision and even thinking about it, made him feel like he was suffocating.

“Okay,” Caroline said softly, “You can open your eyes.”

Harry did so and was immediately handed the small glass bowl, “Drink this then lie down. It’s all going to feel like a dream, but you will remember it when you wake up.”

Harry nodded, “I know,” he said, thinking back to the last time he had inadvertently used this potion.

“Once you are unconscious, I am going to use Legilimency to project myself into your head,” Caroline explained, “I will be right by your side as if we were viewing memories in a pensieve.”

“Okay,” Harry said. Then he did as she had asked. The moment he lay down, he felt himself drifting off until eventually, blackness overcame everything.

* * *

When Harry came to, he was back in the Forest of Dean. He felt like he was having an out of body experience as he stared into the crater.

A hand grabbed his and Harry jumped in alarm. He spun around and breathed a sigh of relief when he realised that it was just Caroline.

“Am I…” Harry began to ask, leaving the question hanging in the air.

_“Harry!” Draco ran into the clearing and saw the crater, “Oh shit, no.”_

Harry watched him scramble down the muddy slope.

_“Harry!” Draco yelled, shaking Harry’s lifeless body._

_“Harry!”_

_Draco’s hand was on Harry’s wrist, and he clearly couldn’t feel a pulse._

_The blonde man yelled and threw himself to the ground, his head buried in his hands._

Harry frowned as the scene shifted to St. Mungo’s hospital. All of his friends were in the waiting room when Draco walked out of the emergency room and shook his head. There were cries and shouts, but worst of all – there was Daphne’s sobs. They were heart-wrenching, and to see his wife fall apart on the floor of that hospital waiting room, it broke Harry’s heart.

He cleared his throat as he felt the lump in it rising. Tears spilt down his cheeks, but he didn’t raise a hand to wipe them away.

“It will only get worse,” Caroline whispered.

And by Merlin, she was right. He watched his funeral play out; he watched his children crying and his wife looking colder than he had ever seen her. The scene shifted quickly; he saw snippets of the funeral and the wake.

But then the scene settled at Longbottom House. Draco was there, and it looked like he and Neville were fighting.

_“Neville, I know we haven’t spoken since it happened but-”_

_“But what?” Neville asked him bitterly, “But you’re sorry? You’re sorry that you couldn’t save him?”_

_“I am sorry!” Draco barked, “I am so sorry. I did everything I could to bring him back, Neville.”_

_“You didn’t do enough!” Neville yelled, pushing himself to his feet, “But I would have! If you had just sent me a Patronus, I would have gone after him, and I would have found him in time. This is your fault, Draco!”_

Harry watched in horror as a duel started between the two men. It wasn’t a small one either, it was a massive blow out of anger on both of their parts, and the spells that were being exchanged were just shy of being lethal.

Draco fired an unshieldable spell at Neville, and as he tried to dodge it, he screamed in pain and fell to the ground. Draco dropped his wand and knelt next to him as Lilly ran into the room. Neville screamed at Draco to get out and never to come back, and Draco backed out of the room with tears in his eyes.

Harry could barely breathe as the scene shifted once more. They were in St. Mungo’s again, but this time, Lilly was speaking quietly to the Healers and the words, “paralysed”, “wheelchair” and “lack of function” were all being thrown around.

_Lilly barged into Neville’s room and screamed at him with tears in her eyes, “How could you be so stupid? How could you throw away everything that Harry did for you because of your anger? Do you think that’s the legacy he wanted to leave behind?”_

_“Well he didn’t care enough to leave anything behind, did he?” Neville asked bitterly._

_“So, what is this? Guilt?”_

_“My best friend killed himself!” Neville snapped, “Of course it’s fucking guilt!”_

_Lilly shook her head, “Harry died and rather than you realising that life is short, you just decided to ruin yours. You are so stupid, and I think I hate you right now!”_

_Neville turned to look at her, his eyes were cold, “So you’re going to leave me now that I’m a cripple?”_

_Lilly glared at him and shook her head, “No, I’m going to leave you because you are an impulsive, selfish bastard!” she hissed the last word and turned on her heel._

As the scene began to shift, Harry turned to Caroline, “Did they split up?”

Caroline replied, “You’ll see more of their future in a moment.”

Harry frowned and looked back to the scene in front of them. Daphne was in the house, getting the kids ready and shepherding them through the fireplace to their tutor. She put Thea in a snowsuit and gave her to an elf.

_“Two bottles and an afternoon nap Hokey.”_

_“Yes, mistress.”_

Harry’s frown deepened, “This isn’t Daphne.”

“She closed herself off after you died,” Caroline said, “To almost everyone.”

Harry sighed heavily and watched Daphne floo to work. The scene shifted as they followed her, but Harry was perplexed when they found themselves at Greengrass Industries.

_“Morning sweetheart,” Cygnus said when Daphne walked into an executive office._

_Daphne didn’t smile; she just gave a brisk nod, “Father, why are you in my office?”_

_“We have a meeting with the shareholders this morning,” Cygnus reminded her, “I thought we ought to plan.”_

_Daphne motioned to the seat opposite her desk, “Then, by all means, let’s begin.”_

Harry shook his head, and the scene shifted again. He now found himself in the Auror department where Draco was hunched over a desk; he had a beard and longer hair than Harry had ever seen him with.

_Jason and Terry were talking in whispers nearby, “He hasn’t been home, Terry.”_

_Terry shrugged, “What can we do, man? We can’t force him to go home.”_

_“His wife is worried about him,” Jason whispered, “So is Theo, he hardly even talks to him these days and between the illegal duels that he thinks we don’t know about…”_

_“Jace, nobody has been able to get through to him since Harry died,” Terry whispered, “He blames himself, that’s why he throws himself into the illegal duels and his job. He can’t go home to his wife because he thinks he’s the reason her best friend is dead.”_

_“But it’s been a year, Terry,” Jason said, “Something has to give soon, doesn’t it?”_

_Terry looked anxiously at Draco, “I don’t know…”_

_The scene shifted once more, and they were in Knockturn alley. Draco was in his Auror robes, and he was duelling three criminals._

Harry watched the jet of red light zoom towards his Auror partner in horror.

“Draco dies?” Harry asked in a whisper.

“Because you weren’t there to have his back,” Caroline said, “And look at the repercussions that has.”

Knockturn alley merged into Blacknot Castle where Sadie and Theo were talking by the fire.

_“She hasn’t spoken in days.”_

_“And she just up and quit her job,” Sadie said with a sigh, “She spent the last year working relentlessly on the Wizengamot, working her way up and then she gets to Senior Undersecretary and just quits?”_

_“She’s going to snap,” Theo said, his eyes on Hermione who looked like a shell of her former self._

_“It’s just a matter of time,” Sadie agreed, “And I don’t know what we can do for her.”_

_“Neither do I,” Theo despaired._

Blacknot Castle became St. Mungo’s and Harry listened to another conversation between Sadie and Theo about how Hermione had been committed to the secure ward. About how she wasn’t making any sense, about how the Healers said that something in her head had just snapped. Tears rolled down Harry’s cheeks as they talked about how they were going to explain this to Ella and Cas, about how they were going to be able to keep the castle now that they only had Theo’s relatively meagre income and the profits from Sadie’s books.

Caroline squeezed Harry’s hand, “You wanted to know what would happen to your best friend and his wife?”

Harry nodded, and the scene shifted to an unfamiliar house. Lilly looked a little older but still as beautiful and strong as ever.

_“Harry! Jack!”_

Harry’s heart stopped, “She named her kid after me?”

Caroline simply nodded.

_Twin boys with mousy brown hair ran into the room._

_Lilly smiled, “Are you all packed for Hogwarts? You leave tomorrow.”_

_One of the boys nodded, “Yeah, Mum. Is Dad coming to see us off?”_

_Lilly looked at the calendar, “He hopes so, but he has a triple bypass at 9 am. He’s going to get through it as fast as possible, so he doesn’t miss you two getting on the train though.”_

Harry frowned. Neville, doing a triple bypass? But Neville wasn’t a Healer.

_Before he could ponder on it too much, a tall, dark-haired man walked into the room and grinned, “Hey boys! All packed and ready to get sorted into Ravenclaw like your mum and me?”_

_“Yeah, Dad.”_

“Michael Corner?” Harry asked in disbelief, “She married Michael Corner?”

Caroline nodded.

_Lilly smiled at Michael, “Don’t be judgemental, Mikey. Wherever they end up, they are going to be great.”_

_“Do you think we’ll be in Slytherin like our real Dad?” One of the boys asked._

_Lilly frowned, “What makes you think that your real Dad was in Slytherin?”_

_The boy shrugged, “He just left us. Someone brave wouldn’t just leave us.”_

_Michael made a face and whispered, “They have a point.”_

_“Michael, not in front of the boys,” Lilly muttered._

_She then knelt in front of the kids and said, “Your real Dad was a Gryffindor, and he was a very brave person, but sometimes when a terrible thing happens to a brave person, they lose their courage.”_

_“Do you think he’ll ever want to talk to us?” One of the boys asked._

_“Maybe one day,” Lilly said diplomatically, “Now on you go, get your owls in their cages.”_

_The boys nodded and left the room. Michael raised an eyebrow at her, “Do you ever plan on telling them that the reason they don’t see their real Dad is because of the restraining order?”_

_“When they are old enough to understand why,” Lilly replied simply._

_“Old enough to understand that their Dad is a drunken waste of space who seems to be trying to drink his life away?” Michael asked in an undertone, “That he nearly killed their mother when they were babies in a fit of drunken accidental magic? When will they be old enough to understand that, Lil?”_

_Lilly sighed and hugged Michael, “I…I don’t know.”_

Harry didn’t know how much more of this he could take. The scene shifted to Potter Manor, and Harry realised when he looked at Daphne how much time had passed. She was still beautiful, but her eyes looked older, and there were lines on her face that weren’t there now.

_“Look, I don’t care that you are gay, Alastor!” Daphne was saying sternly, “I care that this guy is younger than you and that you – as a teaching assistant – are in a position of power.”_

_Alastor, who was all grown up now, scoffed and swept his dark brown hair out of his eyes, “Oh come off it Mum. You care because of who his dad is.”_

_Daphne stiffened, “I have nothing against the Corners, Alastor. They are respectable family and-”_

_“Yeah but Jack isn’t a Corner, is he?” Alastor asked angrily, “Not by blood anyway, he’s a Longbottom, and I know you were friends with his mother. I’ve seen photographs of you two in old albums.”_

_“I have not spoken to Jack Corner’s mother since you were three years old,” Daphne said quietly, “And that is none of your business, but I do not want you getting a reputation for yourself.”_

_Alastor scoffed and shook his head, “A reputation? Are you for real? Dad doesn’t mind; he laughed when I told him.”_

Harry’s eyes flashed, “Did Daphne remarry?”

Caroline nodded.

_“Did he?” Daphne asked furiously. She shook her head and stormed out of the drawing-room._

Before Harry could dwell too much on the fact that Daphne had remarried, the scene shifted again, and this time they were back in the Corner residence.

_“Harry! Why’d you have to out me?” Jack was asking irritably._

_“Jack, love,” Lilly cut in, “We knew you were gay.”_

_“What?” Jack barked, “Did you?”_

_“Yeah, son,” Michael replied, “From the moment you told us you would rather see Billy Elliot on your birthday than Star Wars.”_

_Harry cackled out loud and was punched in the arm by Jack._

_Lilly smiled a little, “We have no problem whatsoever with your sexuality. What we do have a bit of a problem with is you sleeping with your professor.”_

_“Teaching assistant,” Jack corrected._

_“He is four years older than you,” Michael pointed out._

_“And?” Jack asked angrily, “I’m in love with him. What does it matter what age he is?”_

_Lilly looked at Michael for help._

_“It matters because he’s a Potter, son,” Michael replied, “And the Potters have a bit of a reputation these days. Their mother is the CEO of Greengrass Industries, and she kicked her own sister to the curb for the job. All of the Potter kids were in Slytherin apart from the oldest one; you don’t want to be mixing with them son.”_

_“You mean you don’t want me mixing with them,” Jack said, fixing his glare on his mother, “Which is rich, coming from you, Mum!”_

_“Jack-”_

_“Nah,” Jack barked, “You were best friends with Alastor’s mum.”_

_“That was a long time ago,” Lilly said, “We were completely different people back then.”_

_Jack lost his temper and left the room before any more could be said. Harry looked between his parents, “Is it really bad? Jack dating a Potter?”_

_“Let’s put it this way, Harry, it’s not good,” Lilly said sarcastically, “Can you try and talk some sense into him?”_

_“Yeah Mum,” Harry said, patting Lilly on the arm, “I’ll do my best.”_

_Michael smiled and patted Harry on the back, “You’re a good kid, Harry.”_

Harry couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He hadn’t realised that his death would tear his family apart like this. He thought if anything, it would have made them stronger and pulled them together.

As the scene shifted, Harry’s stomach flipped to see them back at Potter Manor. It was decked out in white and silver for a wedding which could only mean one thing – his baby girls were grown up, and they had grown up without him.

_“Thea, it is your sister's wedding day, can you please act respectably for five minutes?” Daphne ground out._

Harry turned around, and his breath caught in his chest when he saw the little group.

Daphne had the odd grey hair, but she looked regally beautiful as she always had done. Andrea was the one getting married; she looked angelic in a white dress, her jet black hair pulled into a loose bun with curled strands falling across her face. Her emerald green eyes met her mothers, and she looked nervous.

Thea was all grown up too, and it took Harry by surprise when he saw how much she looked like Daphne. It was like looking at a photograph of Daphne in her eighth year – Thea’s long blonde hair had been left down, and she wore a silver bridesmaid dress.

_“I’m acting respectably, Mother,” Thea remarked, “Oh wait sorry, is it not respectful that I brought my boyfriend to my sister's wedding?”_

_Daphne fixed Thea with a long look._

_“Is it because he’s a muggle? Or a rock star?” Thea quipped, “Do we not want Andie’s new husband meeting the disgrace of the family?”_

_“Theodora,” Daphne snapped, “You are not the disgrace of the family, but right now you are testing my patience. I don’t care that he’s a muggle or a rock star, but I do care about the fact that he does drugs and that he drags you into it – do not even try to deny it!”_

_Thea just rolled her eyes, and at that point, a male voice said, “The groom awaits, Andrea. Are we going to leave him in the lurch?”_

Harry turned around and frowned. Why the hell was Roger Davies in _his_ house? And why was he smiling at his daughter like that?

_Andrea smiled back, “Is he okay?”_

_“Charlie’s fine,” Roger assured her, “His father managed to calm him down.”_

_“But if you want to back out, there is still time,” Daphne encouraged her daughter._

_Andrea laughed, “Mum, I’m marrying a Nott. I thought that would make you happy, a good pureblood family and all?”_

_“That part is all fine and well,” Daphne agreed with a smile, “But I am not ready for my least favourite cousin to be one of my in-laws.”_

_“You and Charlie’s mum are best friends though,” Thea piped up, “So stop pretending you’re against this wedding like you were against Alastor’s wedding.”_

_“Thea,” Roger said in a warning tone, “Alastor and your mother have made their amends, so do not stir up any drama today.”_

_“Would I, Dad?” Thea asked, smirking at Roger._

“Dad?” Harry asked in disbelief.

Caroline pointed at a plaque on the wall which read, “Daphne Greengrass – Davies: CEO of Greengrass Industries Incorporated.”

Harry thought he might actually throw up. The thought of Daphne remarrying and Roger Davies, of all people? He was a substandard Auror at best.

_“Come on, kiddo,” Roger said, holding his hand out to Andrea, “We’ve got an aisle to walk down.”_

“No,” Harry said in disbelief, “No, no. She can’t walk down the aisle with him; she can’t!”

The scene shifted slightly, and Harry was forced to watch Andrea walk down the aisle with Roger. Daphne smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes the way it did when she smiled at him.

Harry swallowed as he watched Andrea marry Charlus Nott. He watched the bond glow silver, watched them kiss and watched her embrace the man that she called Dad.

_“Who’d have thought it eh?” Theo said to Daphne, “Your daughter and my son.”_

_“Well, I tried to talk her out of it enough times,” Daphne said with a teasing smirk._

_Sadie chuckled and hooked her arm through Daphne’s, “There was no keeping them apart. They have been close since they were kids, Daphne.”_

_“I know,” Daphne said, her eyes on Andrea, “And she loves him so much. I… I remember that feeling, I remember how it felt to be in love like that.”_

_Theo gripped her hand, “Roger’s good to you.”_

_“But he’s not Harry,” Sadie said softly._

_Daphne didn’t deny it; she just nodded._

_“Who do you think will be next?” Theo asked, his eyes raking over their kids, “That’s Al and Andie both tied the knot now.”_

_“Teddy won’t settle down,” Daphne said with a sad smile, “The dragon taming lifestyle just doesn’t lend itself to a wife and children, and Thea…well I mean come on, she’s throwing her life away.”_

_“What did her therapist say?” Sadie asked, watching the youngest Potter child._

_“That growing up without her father gave her abandonment issues,” Daphne said quietly, “But she had a father, she had Roger.”_

_“Not quite the same though, is it?” Sadie asked rhetorically, “Do you regret your decision not to have a portrait of him commissioned?”_

_“No,” Daphne replied, “He missed all of this because of his selfishness. He chose to kill himself, to end it all and abandon us. I can’t have his portrait in the house; I’m bitter enough without having to look at his face every day.”_

Harry swallowed hard.

_Daphne changed the subject, “So I expect it will be another of yours who settles down next.”_

_“I think Almina still has a soft spot for Teddy, even after he broke her heart,” Sadie said with a slight smile, “Nick Wolfe is a nice guy though, and they are Auror partners, so you never know if it will become more than friendship.”_

_“More chance of Cas getting married than the rest of them,” Theo said with a chuckle, “Ella’s too career-minded, just like her mum.”_

_“You say that, but you raised that girl,” Daphne said, crossing her arms and looking at Elladora and Caspian who were all grown up, “Ella was only three when Draco threw himself into the grave then Hermione was committed so soon after.”_

_“She’s never going to get better,” Theo said, “Ella still visits her in St. Mungo’s, but Hermione has no idea who she is. Cas has given up, it's just too painful for him, and he was only a baby when it all happened.”_

_“Well, for what it’s worth, you have done a brilliant job of raising all four of those kids,” Daphne said to Sadie and Theo, “You lost that castle and had to move back into Grimmauld Place. You raised all four of those kids in that little house and look at how they turned out.”_

_Sadie smiled, “And you have done an outstanding job of keeping yours grounded, despite all that happened.”_

_“Three out of four ain’t bad,” Theo agreed as he looked in Thea’s direction._

_“Trust the one who was named after you to be the wild child,” Daphne muttered under her breath._

_Sadie and Theo both laughed at that comment, then Alastor walked over with his hand in Jack’s._

_“Olive branch, Mum?”_

_Daphne nodded, “Of course, my love. I’m sorry that I was so opposed to your relationship at first, Al.”_

_“But you can’t make amends with my mum, can you?” Jack asked._

_Daphne sighed and looked down._

_“It’s far more complicated than you know, Jack,” Sadie cut in, “When your father died, Alastor, your mother lost a lot more than a husband.”_

_“I understand Mrs Davies,” Jack said genuinely, “So I promise to leave well enough alone.”_

_Daphne nodded and excused herself._

Harry hoped that was the end of it, but then the scene shifted again. They were still at Potter Manor, but the wedding was over. Everyone was still in their wedding attire, and it seemed that a conflict of some variety was occurring in the kitchen.

_“Teddy, just hear me out,” Roger was saying._

_“I’m not going to back down!” Teddy snapped._

_Daphne looked between the two of them, “Teddy, please.”_

_“I am joining the Aurors, Mum!” Teddy snapped, “And I find it unbelievable that you are trying to hold me back, you’re the Head Auror!” he said to Roger._

_“I am not disputing that you would make a good Auror, Teddy,” Roger cut in, “But please reconsider joining the Aurors. If not for my sake then for your mother's sake, you know that one of her children going into that line of work would destroy her.”_

_“Because it’s the line of work that killed my dad?” Teddy asked hotly, “Because you are not my dad, Roger, and you don’t get to dictate what I do or don’t do with my life! Al, Andie and Thea, they might all call you Dad, but that’s because they don’t remember our real dad. Our real dad was a hero, and he died.”_

_“He wasn’t a hero, Teddy,” Thea said bitterly, “He was a coward who killed himself.”_

_“He didn’t kill himself!” Teddy roared, “Maybe all of you have lost faith in him, even you Mum! But I have never lost faith in him; he did not kill himself.”_

_“So what happened that night then? His magic mysteriously combusted, huh?” Thea asked, crossing her arms over her chest._

_“He didn’t kill himself!” Teddy yelled, glaring at his sister, “And you can all call this loser your dad, but he’s not. He will never be our dad; he’s a spineless coward.”_

_“Edward,” Daphne said carefully, “Don’t do this.”_

_“Do what?” Teddy fumed, “Call him out on his bullshit? Call you both out? You don’t love him, Mum. You only married him because it was what Granddad and Narcissa wanted. They might not remember Dad, but I do, I remember how in love you were and the way you are with Roger, it’s like a bloody business deal!”_

_Roger crossed his arms, “Get out of my house.”_

_Before Teddy could yell some more, Daphne stepped forward, her eyes aflame, “This is not your house, Roger. This is Potter Manor, it was Harry’s home, and it became mine upon his death. You do not get to throw my son out of his own ancestral home, especially when all that he is doing is telling the truth. Our marriage was a business deal, an arranged pureblood marriage, designed to benefit us both. You have always known that you do not come close to comparing with Harry and you are spineless! You would never have become Head Auror if Harry and Draco were still alive!”_

_The kitchen was silent._

_Roger took a step back, “I have been nothing but supportive since we got married, Daphne. I took on a woman with four children, and I have treated them all as if they were my own. Only to be repaid with bitterness and a lack of love, I knew you never loved me because frankly, I do not know if you are capable of love anymore!”_

_Alastor, Jack and Thea watched the argument play out warily. Teddy stood at his mother's side with his arms crossed._

_Daphne took a breath and said, “Get out of my house, Roger.”_

_Roger scoffed, “Are you serious?”_

_“Completely,” Daphne said coldly._

_Roger shook his head and left the room, muttering as he did so._

_“Well done, Mother,” Thea said sarcastically, “You managed to push away the one man who ever treated us like we worth something.”_

_Daphne turned her glare on her children, “Enough! Teddy is right; we never had enough faith in your dad. He didn’t kill himself, I don’t know what happened, but I do not believe that he would ever intentionally kill himself. If you want to see the kind of father that he was to you, go to the potions lab, open the secret cabinet in the back of the wardrobe and take out the pensieve.”_

_Alastor looked up in surprise, “There’s a pensieve?”_

“ _Yes,” Daphne replied coolly, “And I think you all ought to watch it because Teddy is right. Your dad was a hero. He was kind, and he was brave. He was selfless and loving, and he was the love of my life.”_

_She took a breath, “And Jack-”_

_Jack looked surprised to be addressed._

_“Your real father was Harry’s best friend,” Daphne confessed, “They were as close as brothers. And your mother, she was my best friend. She was the person who held me up when the world was falling down, and the reason we don’t speak anymore is because I couldn’t be that person for her.”_

_Jack frowned, “What do you mean?”_

_“Harry died, and your father, Neville, did something stupid and ended up paralysed,” Daphne explained, “Your mother was pregnant with you and your brother at the time, and she needed me. But instead of being there for her, I locked everyone out to deal with my grief, and by the time I was ready to open up again, it was too late. She was a single mother to twin children, and she was engaged to your dad, Michael.”_

_Realisation shone in Jack’s eyes._

_“So now you all know the truth,” Daphne said with tears in her eyes, “Make of that what you will and pick a side if you must.”_

_“I’ll always pick yours, Mum,” Teddy said, pulling his mother into a hug, “I’ll never forget Dad.”_

Harry had been crying the entire time he had been in this alternate future, but those final words from Teddy made him sob.

“I think you’ve seen enough,” Caroline said, and those words were music to his ears. He felt himself drift off, and his surroundings slowly began to ebb away.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	42. Without You I'm Just Cold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:  
> Cold by James Blunt.

When Harry woke up in Caroline’s office, the Healer gave him a cup of tea. He drank it silently until he stopped shaking then Caroline suggested he go to John’s office and ask for the rest of the day off.

Harry didn’t want to go home, but he did need to go back to the main department, so he nodded and apparated in a daze. He couldn’t stop thinking about what he had seen – about his babies growing up without him and Daphne being married to Roger Davies. He felt nauseous and dizzy, so he paused in the back corridor for a moment of peace.

The moment did not last long - it was broken when Draco stepped in and looked at him strangely.

“What are you still doing here?”

“What do you mean?”

“I thought you would have gone home after you met with Caroline,” Draco said, a frown forming on his face.

“No,” Harry sighed, “No, I’d rather be here.”

“Harry,” Draco said slowly, “It’s Halloween.”

“So?”

“So it’s Alastor’s birthday,” Draco said, his eyes meeting Harry’s. The concern in those often stormy grey eyes was apparent, “You haven’t forgotten about that, have you?”

“Shit!” Harry cursed, “I…fuck!”

“I’ll tell Shep why you had to go home,” Draco said, “Just go while you still have a chance to make this right.”

Harry nodded and apparated out of the department.

* * *

Neville and Lilly walked into Potter Manor together. They followed the sound of footsteps to the drawing-room where surely enough, the kids were running around.

Daphne was sitting on the sofa with her feet pulled up underneath her. She wasn’t wearing any make-up, and her hair was pulled up into a messy bun. Her eyes were red and bloodshot, but she was trying to cover it all up and put on a smile for the kids' sake.

“Happy birthday, Alastor!” Neville said, plastering the biggest smile that he could muster onto his face.

Alastor beamed when Neville handed him the present in his hands.

Lilly kissed the little boy on the cheek.

“Happy birthday sweetheart.”

The moment Lilly crossed the room and reached Daphne, the blonde woman grabbed her hand and forced her to sit down next to her – Lilly did so wordlessly.

“WOW!”

Daphne smiled at Alastor’s reaction to the box of magical creature figurines that Neville and Lilly had gotten him for his birthday. The drawing-room was decked out in birthday banners and jack-o-lanterns, and Andrea was playing away happily with her brother. Thea was kicking around on the floor, giggling when her older siblings played near her.

Lilly’s eyes found Teddy, who was sitting a little further away, watching the fun but not partaking in it.

“He knows something is wrong,” Daphne said quietly.

“How bad is it?” Lilly asked.

Daphne shook her head, “It’s fine. I’ll be fine.”

“It’s _not_ fine,” Lilly said firmly, “ _You_ are not fine.”

Daphne swallowed and shook her head.

“I…I don’t want to be that wife, that pureblood wife who stays in an unhappy marriage because it’s what best for our image. But I don’t want to rip my family apart either, Lilly.”

Lilly’s hand tightened in Daphne’s.

“No, you’re not there yet. We’re not talking about divorce.”

“We _are_ talking about divorce because I can’t pretend I haven’t been thinking about it,” Daphne whispered, “Yes, we didn’t plan to have Thea so quickly after Andrea, but we did plan it. We wanted to try and have another, and we knew what we were getting into, we knew four kids would be a handful. It just feels like since Thea came along, he’s lost interest in his family.”

“It’s not because of her - it’s because of Lucia and the church, and what happened with Neville,” Lilly assured Daphne, “And I didn’t want to say it because I know how defensive you can get, but given all that’s happened, I think _you_ might have a degree of postnatal depression.”

Daphne frowned down at her hands.

“Maybe.”

“You shouldn’t make any big decisions right now,” Lilly said softly, “You and Harry can work this out. You’ve gotten through worse.”

“He’s never forgotten his sons birthday before though, has he?” Daphne asked coolly.

“I know, but you need to stop acting like a Gryffindor,” Lilly said quietly, “You don’t know all of the facts. You don’t know what happened last night, and I want to tell you, but I can’t do it in front of the kids.”

Daphne frowned, “Is he okay?”

“Physically, he’s fine,” Lilly answered, “Neville can hold the fort with the kids, so where do you want to go?”

Daphne’s frown deepened, “Uh…”

“Outside?” Lilly guessed, “We can sit by the lake and throw toast to the squid like you and Tracey used to do at Hogwarts.”

Daphne cleared her throat and nodded, her eyes falling on the portrait of Tracey that hung next to her favourite chair.

“Listen to the Ravenclaw, babe,” Tracey said, “She’s not just a pretty face.”

Lilly smiled weakly, “Thanks, Trace.”

Daphne sighed and got to her feet. She looked over at Neville.

“Are you sure-”

“We’ll be fine; we’re playing basilisks and broomsticks, don’t worry,” Neville assured Daphne.

Lilly pulled on Daphne’s hand, so the blonde woman stepped out of the drawing-room with her best friend. They didn’t talk as they left the house (via the kitchen so they could acquire some bread for the squid).

It wasn’t until they sat down on a wet rock by the lake that Daphne asked, “How bad?”

“He tried to kill himself last night, Daphne,” Lilly blurted out because what better way was there to say something like that?

Daphne’s hand slipped out of Lilly’s.

“What?”

“Draco found him in a crater. He channelled his magic through himself into the ground then he lay down and waited to die,” Lilly spoke softly, “Draco took him to Ginny who fixed the worst of the damage then he brought him to Longbottom House.”

“Is that where he is now?” Daphne asked.

Lilly shook her head, “He went to work because he needed to talk to Caroline. It was Harry who said that not anybody else, so he knows that he needs help. Yes, he probably has forgotten that it’s Alastor’s birthday, but in the scheme of things, we should probably just be grateful that he’s alive.”

Daphne swallowed tearfully.

“How did it get this bad, Lilly?”

Lilly didn’t know what to say.

“I don’t know.”

“I should be furious at him,” Daphne said through her tears, “But I’m just too tired.”

“That was what he said,” Lilly frowned, “That he meant to call for help, but he was just so tired.”

Daphne looked down at her hands; they were shaking.

“It’s over, isn’t it? He tried to kill himself because of me.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Lilly cut in quickly.

Daphne scoffed, “Really? You don’t know what I said about him just before he ran off.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Lilly said honestly, “Whatever you said might have been the breaking point, Daphne, but this has been coming for months.”

“I fought with Astoria about something stupid,” Daphne whispered, “And I said that I was terrified that I was becoming like my mother because I was married to an alcoholic and because I was scared that I was becoming a trophy bride. I said I was scared of him getting aggressive like my father did.”

“Daph, you can’t blame yourself for this,” Lilly said, gripping Daphne by the wrist, “Harry lost control, and he had a split-second to decide what to do. He chose to channel his magic through himself because he thought that sacrificing himself was better than letting innocent people die. He didn’t go out there to try and kill himself because of what you said.”

Daphne sucked in a shaky breath.

“But if that’s how you feel then you two need to talk about that,” Lilly added, surveying Daphne with concern.

“I know we….do,” Daphne said, trailing off as she saw something behind Lilly.

Lilly spun around and cursed under her breath when she saw Harry walking up the path with a giant hippogriff soft toy under his arm.

“Where the hell have you been on your sons birthday?” Daphne asked coldly, “Do you think you can just swan in with a giant hippogriff and make it all okay?”

Harry opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Daphne continued, “Especially when I just had to find out that you tried to kill yourself last night from your best friend’s wife!”

Harry swallowed, “I know it doesn’t make it any better, but I am sorry, and when we can talk, we need to. It’s the only way that we’re going to get through this.”

“I’ll talk to you until we’re both hoarse, Harry,” Daphne said honestly, her blue eyes meeting his, “But I don’t know if that’s going to work this time.”

Fear flashed in Harry’s eyes, “Daphne-”

“I am fed up of being the one who always has to fix things,” Daphne said quietly, “I’m fed up of being the one who is always trying, the one who raises the kids and keeps the house while you save the world. It’s not what I signed up for, and something has to give or…”

Harry grabbed her hand, “Don’t say it.”

“Why?” Daphne returned angrily.

“Because it makes it real and it can’t be,” Harry said firmly, “I will do whatever it takes to make things right, Daphne. I will do _anything._ ”

“You wouldn’t do anything,” Daphne scoffed.

“I would,” Harry said, “I would because I love you and losing you would break me beyond repair. If you want me to walk into work tomorrow and hand Shep my notice, I will. I’ll do anything, Daphne.”

Daphne swallowed and nodded, “We’ll talk, but that’s all I’m committing to right now.”

“Okay,” Harry said quietly.

“Now get your arse in that house and celebrate your sons birthday,” Daphne demanded.

Harry nodded and walked up to the house, looking back at Daphne several times, but she didn’t break. Her stony expression remained in place until the front door shut behind Harry. It was only then that she allowed herself to turn around and cry in Lilly’s arms.

* * *

Harry caught Neville’s eye when he walked into the drawing-room of Potter Manor, but they didn’t talk straight away. Alastor shouted, “Daddy!” and he ran at Harry.

Harry smiled and picked the little boy up. He hugged him tightly, kissed him on the forehead and asked him about his day. Alastor told him about what Mummy had made for breakfast and about his presents, and Harry listened intently as he sat with the little boy on his lap. Alastor hugged his hippogriff tightly, and Harry nodded and said, “Really?” in all of the right places. Andrea ran over and joined them, and as Harry sat with a child on each leg, Neville could see him begin to heal.

When the toddlers had finished bombarding him with information and hugs, Harry picked Thea up and spoke softly to her.

“Hey, baby girl,” he murmured.

Thea gurgled happily in response, and Harry closed his eyes as she cuddled into his chest. He breathed in the scent of baby shampoo, and he cherished the warmth of the little body against him for a moment. He opened his eyes and smiled as Alastor pretended to ride his giant hippogriff, he was chasing a squealing Andrea around the drawing-room.

Neville didn’t know what, but he could tell that something had happened. Harry was looking at his children in a whole new light, and there was a glint in his eye that Neville hadn’t seen for a little while.

He wanted to talk to Harry, but he could see how much these little moments with his children meant to his best friend, so Neville hung back.

Teddy sat down next to Harry on the sofa and rested his head on his dad’s shoulder.

Harry lifted his arm and tucked Teddy under it, “Hey, little man.”

Teddy shut his eyes and whispered, “Are you and Mum going to split up like Tommy’s Mum and Dad?”

Harry knew that Tommy was a boy in Teddy’s class at school. He shook his head and looked down at his oldest child, “No, Teddy. Your mum and I have been arguing a lot lately because I’ve been working too much, but that is all about to change, I promise. I love your mum and you guys more than anything in the world; there is no way that we’re splitting up.”

Teddy smiled, “Good,” he said simply.

Harry glanced down at his son, “All good?”

Teddy nodded, “Yeah, I just missed you, Dad.”

Harry’s eyes softened, “I missed you too, buddy,” he said, and the way he looked at Teddy…it was like he hadn’t seen him in days.

Neville hadn’t taken his eyes off of Harry since he walked into the drawing-room, partly due to curiosity but mostly due to his concern for his best friend. Harry must have felt his gaze because he looked up and caught Neville’s eye.

“You okay?” Neville mouthed across the room.

Harry smiled and nodded.

For the first time in a while, Neville believed him.

* * *

Harry and Daphne didn’t talk until the kids had all gone to bed that night. By that point, she knew some of what was going on at work because Harry had told them all that he was working part-time for at least the next two weeks and that he was off active duty until Caroline felt comfortable with him being back in the field.

Once the kids were asleep, Lilly suggested that she and Neville head home but Harry shook his head. He looked at Daphne and said, “I think, at least to begin with, that this should be a family meeting. Don’t you?”

Daphne nodded.

Harry began to pace in front of the fireplace, “As I told you earlier, I will be working part-time for the moment, so that means I’ll have more time at home to help you, Daphne.”

Daphne said nothing.

“And to help fix things, with us,” Harry continued.

Still, Daphne said nothing.

“I won’t drink anymore,” Harry added, “At all. From now on, I don’t drink _anything_ with alcohol in it, and if I have a bad day at work, I go straight to Caroline, or I go into a duelling room and let it all out. I need to find better coping mechanisms, and _I know that_ now.”

“And what caused you to have this earth-shattering revelation?” Daphne asked, albeit a little sarcastically.

“Caroline showed me something awful,” Harry said quietly, “She didn’t think I realised the consequences of my actions and she was right, but I didn’t realise that until after she had given me the potion.”

Daphne frowned, “What kind of potion did she give you?”

“Alternatis Mundi,” Lilly said with wide eyes, “That’s the one they usually use after suicide attempts.”

Harry smiled slightly, “Ten points to Ravenclaw.”

“You nearly killed yourself last night, you do not get to make jokes,” Lilly said sternly, “You think just because you had your “ _It’s A Wonderful Life_ ” moment, you get forgiven? Cause if you do, think again Clarence.”

Harry wanted to comment that it was George who saw his life in the movie she had referred to, not Clarence, but he knew he was in enough trouble with the women in his life at the moment as it was, so he kept his mouth shut.

“Right, sorry,” Harry said hastily, “Lilly is right anyway, Caroline showed me what the future would have looked like if I had died.”

“Why are you telling all of us this?” Neville asked.

“Because,” Harry said, taking his wand out and pointing it at a cabinet behind Neville, “I think everyone in this room needs to see what I saw earlier.”

The cabinet opened up, and Harry’s pensieve floated out into the middle of the room. He closed his eyes and extracted the silvery memory then he poured it into the pensieve.

When Harry looked up, the others were watching him with concern. Harry held out a hand to Daphne, who took it without hesitation. He then held out another hand to Neville, who sighed, but took his hand.

“Lilly, take Neville’s hand,” Harry said.

Lilly looked nervous about the idea, but she took Neville’s hand anyway. Harry plunged his face into the ice-cold water, and shadows danced around them as the memory stabilised. They had to maintain contact, so they stood there, hand in hand as Harry’s memory of the alternate future played out.

Everyone watched with quiet horror, up until the point that Lilly realised who she had married.

“Michael fucking Corner?” Lilly spat, “As if that would ever happen!”

Neville had tears in his eyes as he watched his kids refer to Michael as ‘Dad’ and talk about how he must have been a Slytherin because he had abandoned them.

Daphne held Harry’s hand tightly and on the odd occasion that he glanced over, he saw a mixture of anger and sadness on her face. When they got to the point of Andrea’s wedding, Daphne’s breath caught in her throat in the form of a sob.

Harry squeezed her hand tightly, knowing that the bombshell was about to hit.

And surely enough…

“Roger Davies?” Daphne exclaimed, “Daphne Greengrass-Davies? CEO of Greengrass Industries? What the hell?”

“I know,” Harry sympathised.

Daphne’s tears spilt when she saw Roger walking Andrea down the aisle.

Then the final blow was dealt to all of them with that final ‘scene’ where Roger tried to throw Teddy out of his house. When it was over, Harry pulled them all out of the pensieve and surveyed their faces.

“Well thank Merlin you didn’t die,” Lilly said sarcastically as she tried to hide the tears in her eyes, “But why did _we_ need to see that?”

Harry hastily wiped his eyes and cleared his throat.

“Because that can’t happen. I know that was based on me killing myself, but I still do a dangerous job. I could die, and if I do, you all need to support each other, not destroy each other.”

“And certainly not marry Michael Corner,” Daphne said, looking at Lilly, “I mean you even changed your kids' surnames.”

“Because I turned into the villain,” Neville said quietly.

Lilly looked at Neville in disbelief, and Harry stepped forward, wrapping his arms around his best friend. He recognised that broken, horrified look on his face – he had seen it on his face in the mirror one too many times.

“That wasn’t you,” Harry said, pulling back from the hug, “It’s who you became because your world was ripped apart in 24 hours. You lost me; you lost your mobility; you lost your wife and your sons. It would be enough to push anyone to the brink, not least someone who has been through as much as you have, Neville.”

“And I don’t know what kind of mojo Caroline put in that thing, but it’s wrong,” Lilly said bluntly, “Because there is not any world where I would marry Michael Corner, not unless he gave me a bloody love potion.”

Neville managed a small smile, but they could all tell that he was still shaken by what he had seen.

“And us not talking?” Lilly said, looking at Daphne, “We would never allow that to happen, would we? I couldn’t bear it…going twenty years without talking to you, being against my son dating a Potter, I just can’t see a world in which that would be right.”

“It can’t have been accurate,” Daphne agreed, “Because I could never survive losing Harry, and both of you all at the same time. I would never remarry, and I would certainly not let my kids grow up with that spineless excuse for an Auror as their step-father.”

“Teddy was pretty accurate in the fake future though,” Harry said, “He’s always been a Mummy’s boy, and he would have your back till the end.”

Daphne met Harry’s eye.

“But he would never lose faith in you either, and that’s Teddy to a tee.”

“Andrea marrying a Nott though,” Neville made a face, “We can’t let that happen, can we?”

Harry laughed weakly.

“And I guess our baby names are out the bag,” Lilly said with a slight smile, “We hid the signs for the nursery because we wanted to keep it a surprise.”

“You’re calling them Jack and Harry?” Harry asked in surprise.

Neville smiled at his best friend, “Yeah, we are, and that was decided before you tried to off yourself by the way.”

Harry smiled tearfully, “That means more than you know, really guys.”

Before Lilly could say that she knew how much it meant, Thea’s cries sounded from upstairs.

“We’ll get her,” Neville said, “You two look like you need to talk, and hug.”

Daphne laughed weakly, “Yes, I suppose we do.”

The Longbottoms disappeared upstairs, and Daphne fixed Harry with a stern look, “You’re right, we do need to talk. We need to fix this because that can’t ever happen, Harry. That future can never play out because…” she paused for a breath, “Because you are the only one who gets to walk our daughters down the aisle.”

Harry smiled tearfully and stepped forward, cupping her face and capturing her lips in a searing kiss. It had been a long time since they kissed like that – since the crackling of the fire just stopped, and the world faded away around them. It had been a long time since they had poured their feelings into a kiss like that.

When they broke apart, Harry rested his head against Daphne’s, “It won’t happen because we’re going to fix this while we still can.”

“As long as you understand one thing,” Daphne said quietly, “You do not get to do that to me. I think I understand your logic now but just so that we are clear – you do not get to leave me, ever.”

“I don’t plan on it,” Harry promised, his eyes boring into hers, “I love you, and I am going to do whatever it takes to fix what I’ve broken. I’ll stay part-time if that’s what you need. I’ll not go back into the field until Caroline and I both agree that I’m ready. I’ll say no when they ask me to lead training missions or give lectures on my days off, and I’ll take myself off the overtime roster. I will learn to say no.”

Daphne watched him wordlessly.

“I’m going to hand the day to day running of Lupin House over to Howie,” Harry continued, “And I’ll go to the odd gala to drum up support, but I won’t attend every fundraising event anymore. Just like I will refuse to be the face of Greengrass Industries every time your sister wants to enlist a high roller. I’m done with all of it Daphne, all that matters is _us_.”

Daphne smiled tearfully and threw herself into Harry’s arms.

Harry breathed in the scent of her shampoo and perfume and held her tightly. He wanted to make it clear that he had no intentions of letting go anytime soon.

“You two are going to be just fine once you get some peace to talk things out,” Lilly said softly as she and Neville re-entered the drawing-room.

Daphne laughed weakly and pulled away from Harry, “Fat chance of that in this house.”

“Exactly,” Neville said with a slight smile, “And that’s the problem, isn’t it?”

Daphne frowned, “What do you mean?”

Lilly looked at her best friend, “You both take on too much. You have high-stress jobs and four kids – three of which are under three. You’re only 25; you have this beautiful big house and plenty of money. I know it’s not the way that either of you wanted to raise your kids, but if you just hired some more house-elves, you would have far more time for each other and your children.”

“You know Daphne doesn’t want that,” Harry cut in, “She never wanted her children to be raised by elves.”

“And that’s not what I’m asking you to do,” Lilly said honestly, “But I mean Daphne, you don’t like cooking do you?”

Daphne frowned, “Well, not really.”

“But you do it almost every day. You could get a house-elf to do it, and that would save you so much time,” Lilly pointed out, “And how many weekends a month do you spend time with each other?”

Daphne opened her mouth then shut it again.

“One? Less than one?” Lilly prodded.

“Well,” Daphne said, looking at her husband, “Harry works every second weekend, and when he isn’t working, he takes Teddy to a Quidditch match on a Saturday then we spend the Sunday between the Burrow and my family. And then there are the weekends when we have to slot in fundraisers or galas, or some sort of charity event as well.”

Harry glanced down guiltily.

“When was the last time you had a night without the kids when you weren’t going to a fundraiser or some other event?” Lilly asked her best friend.

“I don’t know,” Daphne admitted, “Before Andrea was born, I suppose.”

“When did you last go on holiday without the kids?” Lilly prompted.

“Uh…before Andrea was born,” Daphne said again, looking over at Harry.

“You need help, Daphne,” Lilly said softly, “You need a nanny elf so that you can get some sleep at night, and I think you need to consider a live-in tutor.”

“But Lilly, I never wanted any of that stuff,” Daphne said desperately, “I never wanted my kids to be raised as perfect little purebloods like Draco, Theo and I were.”

“Daph,” Lilly said, leaning forward to look her in the eye, “You weren’t a perfect little pureblood because you had a tutor or a nanny elf. You were a perfect little pureblood because your tutor drummed blood purity into you. _You_ are raising your kids; you taught them how to read muggle books, not family trees. You teach them that it’s okay for people to love who they love, and they won’t question the fact that their Aunt Ginny and their Aunt Blanche are in love. It’s not like Draco, growing up and seeing these strange, hidden encounters between his grandfather and Theo’s grandfather. Look at the way you and Harry are normally, anyone who walks into a room with the two of you can tell how in love you are. Your kids can see that and that loving relationship is going to be what they grow up seeing, not abusive relationships or cold relationships. You have a good heart, and that is why your kids are going to grow up great, regardless of whether they have a tutor or not.”

Daphne burst into tears and pulled Lilly into a hug. She murmured something incoherent that seemed to have the words ‘love you’ and ‘best friend’ in it.

Lilly hugged her back tightly and murmured for Daphne’s ears only, “But if you don’t get help, it’s going to break you like it’s breaking Harry, and it’s going to break you and Harry apart.”

Daphne nodded and wiped her eyes hastily.

“So long story short, we’re sending you on holiday,” Neville said simply.

“What?” Harry asked in surprise.

“Draco’s in on it,” Neville explained, “So Harry, you’re off work for the next few days, and whenever you’re ready tomorrow, you two are going to the house in Greece. Lilly and I will watch the kids, and you two will talk until there is nothing left to talk about. Every issue, every worry, every secret – you spill it all, and you come back with a suntan and a few less weights on your shoulders. Okay?”

Harry was the one who tearfully hugged his best friend this time.

“Thank you, mate.”

Neville patted him on the back and smiled at Daphne, “What’s family for, eh?”

Daphne kissed Neville on the cheek, “Thank you,” she said genuinely, “It is what we need.”

“We know,” Lilly said with a knowing smile, “When your living and dead best friends get their heads together, we do come up with some pretty good plans, you know?”

Daphne laughed tearfully and turned around to look at the portrait of Tracey.

“Thanks, Tracey.”

Tracey just winked in response.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	43. It's a Long Way Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Potters do some makeshift therapy on vacation and Draco becomes Ben's personal agony aunt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title comes from the song:  
> Long Way Home by the Goo Goo Dolls
> 
> AIMING TO POST A CHAPTER A DAY FROM NOW ON!

“I should have talked to Draco before we left.”

Daphne sighed and set down her bag a little too heavily.

“Harry, we just arrived in Greece, and the first thing that you want to talk about is your Auror partner?”

Harry bit his lip, “I’m sorry.”

Daphne swept her hair back into a ponytail and grabbed a bottle of water from the underground pantry.

“It’s all you think about all of the time, _work_. You can’t leave it there; you always bring it home with you.”

“I know I do,” Harry confessed, “And I wish I could stop. I wish I could close the door on it at 5 pm and not think about it all night, Daphne, but I can’t.”

“You’ve never been able to leave well enough alone,” Daphne said with a sad smile, “Ever since you were a kid, you would get an idea in your head, and you wouldn’t rest until you had put it to bed. Look at your obsession with Draco in sixth year.”

“Yeah,” Harry sighed, “I know.”

“But I knew it was going to happen,” Daphne continued, “I spoke to Ginny about it on Sunday, and she pretty much said it was how she knew that your relationship wouldn’t make you both happy in the long-run after the war. She said that anyone who was in love with Harry Potter had to be as in love with the Chosen One or they would never survive a relationship with him, and she was right.”

Harry frowned, “I don’t know what you mean.”

“The Harry who comes home and plays with his kids, the guy who makes flirty comments and embarrasses Teddy?” Daphne said with a smile, “He’s the Harry I love - it’s the guy who tells the kids stories at Lupin House fundraisers and the guy who walks around the garden with a snake on his shoulders discussing bloody politics.”

Harry smiled slightly.

“But the Harry who stays at work late and who I don’t see for a whole week at a time sometimes,” Daphne said quietly, “The guy who did whatever it took to catch a sick bastard who was raping muggle girls. The guy who goes above and beyond for his work, not because of ambition, not because he wants the top job but just because he wants to do what’s right - because he wants to make a difference in this shitty world that we live in. I have to be in love with him too, or it’s never going to work.”

“You shouldn’t have to,” Harry said with a shake of his head, “Because I should be able to tune that guy out. You shouldn’t have to see that side of me.”

“If I didn’t see that side of you, how would I _ever_ begin to understand what you go through on a daily basis?” Daphne asked.

Harry opened his mouth then shut it again.

Daphne sighed and stepped out onto the patio where a warm breeze brushed against her face. She turned around and looked at Harry.

“I love the Harry Potter that I fell in love with, the saviour of our world, the guy who just wants to make it a better place but…the Harry Potter you _became_ \- the husband you became, the father you became. That’s why I stay, not for the guy I fell in love with back then but for the man you are now.”

“And I haven’t been that man,” Harry said, his voice breaking, “Not lately.”

Daphne didn’t confirm it verbally; she just tore her eyes away from his.

“Okay,” Harry said, “My turn for a speech.”

This made Daphne turn around in alarm.

“What?”

“I might not have been the best husband or father lately, that much is true,” Harry confessed, “But you aren’t the Daphne Greengrass I fell in love with either, and I mean, of course, that’s understandable. You were a girl when I fell in love with you, and now you’re a woman - a mother, and you are a great mother, Daphne.”

Daphne frowned, “But?”

“But you don’t say no to me anymore,” Harry said, his eyes meeting hers, “At some point along the way you became the perfect pureblood wife. You manage the house and the kids, you keep me right, and you let me work. I remember the Daphne Greengrass who strode onto the Quidditch pitch at the Auror training centre in a business suit just to give me a piece of her mind. I remember the Daphne Potter who made _every_ guy in the departments head turn when she stalked in wearing dragonhide trousers because I hadn’t been home all weekend and it was our anniversary.”

Daphne smiled a little sadly.

“But lately, you just roll over and say yes, Harry, no Harry, three bags full Harry,” Harry said with a wave of his hand, “And I miss the fight that you had in you.”

“I miss that too,” Daphne admitted, “The old me, not the ‘Mum’ me. I try so hard to be the perfect mother, to be everything that _my_ mother wasn’t, and I think along the way I lost sight of who _I_ am.”

Harry stepped onto the patio and took her hand.

“I think a lot of women feel that way after they have kids.”

Daphne sat down on a sun lounger and looked over at Harry.

“Bill and I are ready. We have the business plans, the paperwork – all of it; it’s done. We’ve picked a building and put a bid down on it, I know Thea is young, but I’m ready to go back to work.”

Harry nodded, “Okay.”

“What do we do about the kids?” Daphne asked, “Because I’m okay with a nanny elf looking after them at night but a live-in tutor? Harry, that’s just too much like my upbringing for my liking.”

“The idea makes me uncomfortable too,” Harry promised her, “So what other options do we have? Family?”

“Neville and Lilly could help out a little, but once their babies are born they won’t have time,” Daphne said with a frown, “And Molly has enough grandchildren without having to look after our four.”

“What about your dad and Narcissa?” Harry asked.

“I don’t know,” Daphne said with a shake of her head, “I don’t like the way I was raised, and I don’t trust my dad not to try and influence our kids in that way. As much as I try to pretend that the past doesn’t matter, it does, and my dad has done some pretty shitty things.”

“I know,” Harry said quietly.

Daphne looked up at him, and guilt flitted through her eyes.

“I shouldn’t have compared you to him, Harry. You’re nothing like him.”

“I _am_ like him,” Harry argued, “If we’re going to make this work, we need to be completely honest with each other, and even I can see the similarities. I remind you of the man your father tried to be and when I drink…I become more like the man your father became.”

Daphne swallowed, “I didn’t think you were perceptive enough to work that out.”

“I’m not,” Harry admitted, “When I spoke to Hermione this morning before we left, she told me that, but she’s not wrong. Is she?”

Daphne shook her head, “No, but I don’t think I could ever truly say that I have been scared of you, Harry. For a long time, I was scared of him and the whole thing about me becoming a trophy wife? I can see now that it was as much my fault as it was yours.”

Harry cast his eyes down.

“We just lost ourselves somewhere along the way, didn’t we?”

“I think so,” Daphne confessed. She squeezed his hand, making him look up at her, “But we can find our way again, we have in the past after all.”

“It’s not too late this time?” Harry asked, hope flashing in his eyes.

“It’s not too late,” Daphne promised, a hint of a smile glistening in her eyes.

Harry breathed out a sigh of relief.

“I’m sorry that I haven’t been paying enough attention to what you need. I could tell that you needed to go back to work, that you needed to be _you_ again but I didn’t do enough to help with that. I’ve been so preoccupied with myself that I haven’t even asked you about the new business so tell me about it.”

“What do you want to know?” Daphne asked curiously.

“Everything,” Harry replied, “The name, the premises you put a bid on, how you’re going to make it work - tell me everything.”

Daphne smiled, “Astoria wants to call it Greengrass Curse Breaking Limited, I mean of course she does. She wants there to be no mistake about the fact Greengrass Industries own it.”

“But you have other ideas?” Harry asked with a fond smile.

“Bill and I do, yes,” Daphne answered, “We are going to call it, _Potter & Weasley Curse Breaking._”

“Of course you are,” Harry said, that fond smile still lingering on his lips.

“Partly because I don’t want it to be obvious that we’re affiliated with Greengrass Industries and partly because the name ‘Potter’ on the door will draw people in, but mainly because I’m not a Greengrass anymore - I’m a Potter, and I’m proud of that,” Daphne said, smiling at her husband.

Harry smiled right back at her.

“And the premises we have put a bid in for are in Diagon Alley, right across the way from CPS,” Daphne continued, “They were damaged during the war and haven’t been used since so there will be a lot of restoration work before we can get things off the ground, but that gives us time to hire too. We plan on hiring two Junior Curse Breakers a year, and we will need general staff too – a receptionist, one or two people to help with the mailroom and such. We plan on hiring exclusively from the Closes.”

Harry smile turned to pride at those words.

“And we will work much as Gringotts do,” Daphne continued, “On a case by case basis. People will ask for our help and pay us for our services, but the goblins won’t take a 25% cut of our earnings. Instead, we’ll take what we need to survive and pour the rest back into the business until its running on its own solid feet.”

“It’s a brilliant business plan,” Harry admitted.

“Of course it is, I was raised to become the next CEO of Greengrass Industries,” Daphne said with a smirk, “Even though I didn’t take the post, I still retained a lot of that information.”

“Clearly,” Harry chuckled.

“You do know who our first big contract is going to be with, don’t you?” Daphne asked, her eyes sparkling mischievously.

“Oh yes,” Harry said with a grin, “The DMLE. How do you plan on convincing the big boss exactly?”

Daphne smirked and got to her feet, “Well honestly, babe, I was banking on convincing _you_ to convince Shep.”

“Well, I don’t know if anyone’s told you love, but I am a hardened Auror,” Harry teased, “I can resist the imperius curse and the cruciatus curse. How on earth are you going to get me to crack?”

“By using the one thing you’ve never been able to resist,” Daphne said as she sat on his lap. Harry’s eyes fell on her lips as she uttered the final word, “ _Me_.”

* * *

“Do you think they’re okay?” Draco asked late that night after the kids had gone to bed.

Theo snorted, “They’re in Greece without any kids; I’m sure they’re fine.”

Hermione looked at Theo in disbelief.

“Harry tried to kill himself two nights ago!”

“And you think that affects his ability to fuck his wife?”

Sadie hid an amused smile.

“Theo!” Hermione exclaimed.

“He has a point,” Draco cut in, “This is Harry and Daphne we’re talking about. When has sex _not_ been involved in them resolving an issue?”

“I think the answer is never,” Sadie added, closing her book, “Daphne has always had a high sex drive, and I don’t think Harry’s ever had a problem keeping up with her.”

“When he does, she just asks Lilly instead,” Theo sniggered.

“You are very quick to judge considering how much _you_ hate it when everyone assumes that you and Draco are sleeping together,” Sadie pointed out.

Hermione smirked, “Exactly.”

Theo rolled his eyes, “That’s because Draco and I haven’t slept together, not in that way anyway. I mean we sleep in the same bed sometimes, but we haven’t had sex.”

“How do you know Daphne and Lilly have?” Sadie asked pointedly.

Theo opened his mouth, then shut it again.

“See? You don’t,” Sadie said matter of factly, “Yes, they joke and they make comments, but how do you know that it wasn’t just a one-time thing? How do you know it wasn’t just a, everyone’s drunk, let’s have a foursome thing?”

“Like ours,” Draco added.

“Ours wasn’t just a one-time thing,” Theo said in a stage whisper.

Hermione rolled her eyes, “The point is, I’ve not had sex with Sadie, and you’ve not had sex with Draco. Stop judging; it’s the last thing Daphne needs right now.”

“Hermione is right,” Sadie said, “What Daphne needs right now is for her friends to support her. Harry has a long road to recovery, and while they might come back looking fresher and happier, it’s not going to be that easy.”

“Alright,” Theo conceded, “I’m sorry for being a dick.”

Draco raised an eyebrow at Theo.

“Are you feeling okay?”

Theo snorted, “It’s called emotional maturity, Draco.”

“Yeah, we know what it is, Theo,” Draco retorted, “We just didn’t think you were capable of it.”

Hermione and Sadie both sniggered into their hands at that comment, and Theo rolled his eyes but smiled good-naturedly.

* * *

“How are you feeling about life now?”

“Because of the talking or the all-night-long sex?”

“Both,” Harry said, shooting his wife a grin.

“Well, I feel tired. Wasn’t the point of this break for us to catch up on sleep?” Daphne asked Harry with an amused smile.

Harry just chuckled in response.

“But I feel better,” Daphne promised.

“So do I,” Harry said, “When we get home, we have a plan in place. We work out the childcare situation, so you get to go back to work and be your amazing self. Did you agree to dragonhide trouser Tuesdays last night, by the way?”

“I think I did,” Daphne admitted with a laugh.

Harry laughed too, “And I stay part-time until I figure things out. We’ll hire a nanny elf, and we’ll hire some more elves in general.”

Daphne nodded, “All secrets aired and in the open then? There’s nothing else you’ve been holding back?”

“There’s one thing,” Harry admitted, his eyes darkening, “I’ve been scared to tell you, so I’ve kept it to myself thinking that it’s not important, but it is.”

Daphne rolled onto her stomach and turned her head to the side to look at Harry.

“Go on.”

“I’ve been worried about Alastor for a little while now,” Harry admitted, “When we found him on the step that night, he was cold, and he hadn’t been delivered by a medical professional. The cord hadn’t been clamped right. Lilly knew he was a pureblood from a basic health check. Still, when we took him to Lupin House, she warned me that a consequence of all of that was that his magical core would weaken over time. It was flickering in and out when he was a baby, and I knew it ought to stabilise when he turned two, so I checked it every so often when he was asleep, but it’s still flickering, and he’s three now.”

“I know,” Daphne said simply.

“Lilly told you?” Harry guessed.

Daphne shook her head, “I worked it out. Teddy would pick up a stick as a toddler and sparks would come out of it. He would fall off the bed and float down to the ground. There were signs of magic from such a young age and Andrea, Merlin, it’s even stronger with her. If Andrea picks up a stick in the garden, I panic. She set fire to my favourite holly bush last week!”

Harry chuckled weakly.

“But she’s a Potter, so it’s to be expected,” Daphne said with a smile, “But Al? He’s a sweet boy, but I have never seen that with him. There’s been accidental magic of course when he’s been angry or scared, but it’s so weak. I knew that something was wrong, and I suspected that it was because of the nature of his birth.”

“I researched it until I had read every book that existed on magical cores, but there’s nothing we can do to fix it,” Harry admitted, “Just like nobody can make Theo’s magical core replenish itself fully after what Lucia did to him. Some things can’t be fixed, not even with the Elder Wand or I’d have done it.”

“I know you would have,” Daphne promised, “And honey, squibs don’t need to be fixed. There is nothing wrong with them; they are human, just like the rest of us. Alastor is as much our child as the other three, but we will have to prepare him for the fact that he won’t be able to go to Hogwarts.”

Harry nodded, “If it’s flickering like that now, by the time he turns five, it will have flickered out.”

“I know,” Daphne said softly, “He’s going to have a difficult time, growing up surrounded by magic when he can’t practice it himself, but we can teach him how to deal with that.”

“You’re amazing,” Harry said, his eyes boring into hers, “You’re an amazing mum and an amazing person. I don’t deserve you, and I’m sorry for not telling you sooner.”

“I understood why you didn’t want to talk about it,” Daphne confessed, “When you say something like that out loud, it becomes real. Until you do that, you can convince yourself it’s not true but when it’s out there like that…you can’t take it back.”

“Yeah,” Harry said with a sigh.

Daphne intertwined her hand in Harry’s.

“It’s going to be okay.”

Harry met her eye once more.

“Yeah?”

“Yes,” Daphne promised, “We’re going to be okay, Harry.”

* * *

“Family meeting - order in the kitchen!”

Charlus yawned, “Why, Uncle Draco?”

“Because I have an announcement to make,” Draco said. It was early on Wednesday morning, and everyone was tired.

Theo raised an eyebrow at him, “You’re not having another baby, are you?”

“No,” Draco and Hermione echoed.

“Merlin, no,” Hermione said with a shake of her head, “Cas is still a baby, I couldn’t cope with another one right now.”

“Or ever for that matter, because two is a good number,” Draco said, eyeing Hermione suspiciously.

“Exactly,” Hermione agreed.

Ella and Cas were utterly oblivious to this conversation, and Almina and Charlus were more interested in their argument over who could pour the most maple syrup into their porridge to be paying attention.

“Guys,” Sadie snapped, “Listen to Uncle Draco.”

Almina crossed her arms huffily, and Charlus shoved a massive spoonful of porridge into his mouth.

Sadie rolled her eyes and looked pointedly at Draco.

“We are going to be moving back to Grimmauld Place for a couple of weeks,” Draco announced, taking everyone by surprise.

“What?”

“Why?”

“No!”

Draco rolled his eyes, “Yes, Almina – we are moving back to Grimmauld Place. As for the ‘why?’ Sadie, it’s for all of our benefits. And I’m sorry, Charlus, but it has to happen. While we are away a team of construction workers are going to be here doing important work on the castle. When we come back, it will have electricity, a modern heating system and double glazed windows.”

Hermione’s eyes welled up. She jumped up and hugged Draco tearfully.

“Thank you, Draco!”

Theo smiled slightly and glanced over at Sadie.

“See? Told you he could be considerate.”

“Yes, after you’ve given him a shove in the right direction,” Sadie said with an amused smile, “Charlie, stop pouting – it is for a few weeks then you will be able to watch television again and Almina, you won’t have to complain about the cold anymore. I know Grimmauld Place is a little cramped, but it’s not for long.”

The kids continued to pout while Elladora threw her cereal across the kitchen, and Caspian looked around at them all like they were lunatics.

“Is it ever going to feel like less of a madhouse?” Sadie asked in disbelief.

“I hope not,” Theo said, grinning over at Draco, “I kind of like the chaos.”

Draco smiled too, “It’s a damn sight nicer than breakfast in Malfoy or Nott Manor was,” he agreed.

Hermione could understand that – she knew that Draco craved the noise and the busy nature of their household. It was far more agreeable than the cold, quiet that he had been used to at Malfoy Manor as a child.

“Okay everyone - stop throwing food!” Hermione called, and instantly all four of the kids listened to her.

“Charlie, go upstairs and get your school bag. Mina, shoes on now. Elladora – _eat_ your breakfast.”

Charlus ran upstairs, Almina grabbed her shoes, and Elladora picked up her spoon.

“How do you do that?” Theo asked in amazement, “Every time, they just listen to you.”

Hermione smirked, “Tone of voice. Now you two, get to work or you’re going to be late.”

Draco glanced at the clock and cursed under his breath. He shoved his feet into his shoes and kissed Hermione on the cheek.

“The contractors are arriving at midday so make sure you’ve got everyone out of the castle by then – including the elves, the last thing we need is a bunch of freaked out muggles.”

“Okay,” Hermione said with a smile as Draco grabbed Theo’s wrist.

“I’ve not even had breakfast yet!” Theo objected.

“I’ll buy you something on the way,” Draco said, dragging his best friend out of the kitchen, “Bye love, see you tonight!” he called after her.

Hermione shook her head in amusement, “He seems happier since Theo went back to the Auror department.”

“Of course he is,” Sadie smiled, “They both are. Now here’s the big question - how are we going to convince the elves to use washing machines and dryers?”

“We aren’t,” Hermione answered with a chuckle, “We use electricity in our parts of the castle, but we let the elves keep the fires tended to and do the laundry the magical way.”

Sadie raised an eyebrow, “Well, Hermione Granger, what a show of emotional maturity,” she teased.

Hermione laughed in response.

* * *

When Draco and Theo walked into the department together that morning, they were separated instantly by John, who was lurking in the doorway of his office.

“Draco, a word?”

“Catch you at lunch?” Theo suggested.

Draco nodded, “It’s your turn to buy,” he said as he turned and stepped into John’s office.

“Morning, sir.”

John leant against his desk and surveyed Draco.

“Any word from Harry?”

“He sent me a letter last night,” Draco answered, “He’s doing okay. It sounds like he and Daphne have worked a lot of things out.”

“Any idea when he’s coming back?” John asked.

“Monday,” Draco replied, “Assuming you’re okay with that?”

“I’m fine with that,” John said, “But I do have an idea and, as Harry’s partner, you seem like the best person to run it by.”

“Okay,” Draco said curiously, “What is it?”

“He’s off active duty, so it seems like the perfect time to show him the ropes,” John admitted, “I threw him into the Assistant Head role, but I didn’t tell him what to do. He has no idea, and that’s on me – that’s because I was struggling to adapt to my job, so I didn’t have the time to teach him.”

Draco nodded, “I’m following. So rather than cutting his pay and putting him on desk duty, you want to put him down as in training for the next couple of weeks?”

John smirked, “You _are_ good at the political side of this. You’d have made a fine Assistant Head yourself.”

“I’m sure Harry will give me the job when you inevitably run off back to the training centre,” Draco joked.

John laughed, “Yeah, I’m sure he will. Either way, I plan on teaching Harry how to do the admin side of the job. He’s going to have to learn how to balance the rota, how the overtime roster works, how to grant holiday requests and the key one?”

“How to conduct employee appraisals?” Draco guessed.

“Yep,” John answered.

“Yeah, he’s going to love you for that,” Draco drawled, “But you’re right - he needs to learn how to do that aspect of the job.”

“If it goes well, which I’m expecting it to,” John confessed, “I’ll see how he feels about putting his hours back up to full-time but with a new split – part-time Homicide Team Leader and part-time Assistant Head Auror.”

“I think that’s a well thought out plan, sir,” Draco said honestly, “And it might well be exactly what Harry needs.”

John smiled and clapped Draco on the shoulder.

“Thanks for lending an ear, Draco. Let me know when Harry’s back in the country, I’ll make sure Caroline drops him a line.”

“I will do,” Draco promised.

* * *

“Ben, do you want to come to investigate an animal attack with me?” Draco asked later that morning.

Ben looked up, “Why are we looking into animal attacks? Isn’t that a job for the DRCMC?”

“Yep, we’re working in tandem with them because the animal, whatever it was, killed someone,” Draco explained, shrugging on his Auror robes, “Now is as good a time as ever to learn how to work with other departments on a case.”

Ben nodded and pulled his robes on, “Yeah, that sounds great.”

The two Aurors left the office together and didn’t speak while they walked to the apparition point. Draco told Ben the co-ordinates, and while they trekked through a damp, cold park in the East End of London together, Draco initiated a conversation.

“How are you doing?”

“I’m fine,” Ben lied.

“Ben, you broke up with your boyfriend at the weekend,” Draco said bluntly, “Your first love, right?”

Ben shrugged in response.

“You lived together, you had a life together,” Draco said, “And before he was your boyfriend he was your best friend. There is no way you’re fine, and pretending you are isn’t going to make you feel any better.”

Ben sighed, “Alright, I’m not fine. I’m angry, but I think I’m just using my anger to cover up how sad I am. I loved him. I thought we had something perfect, you know? There’s nothing better than that moment when you find out that your best friend loves you the same way that you love him.”

Draco nodded as he pondered on that for a moment.

“But I think I always knew this would happen,” Ben continued, “I always felt more committed to the relationship than Dan. I’d never blow him off for anything, but he would cancel on me to meet another friend, and it took him two years before he let me meet his parents.”

“You felt like he was holding back?” Draco guessed.

“Yeah,” Ben admitted, “And after what he did with Charlie Weasley… I don’t know Draco; I just get the impression that it's not the first time it’s happened and that it probably went further than a kiss in the past.”

“I hate to admit it, but you’re probably right on that one,” Draco said, “People who cheat in a relationship once are far more likely to do it again.”

“Have you ever done it?” Ben asked.

“Cheated?” Draco asked.

Ben nodded.

“No,” Draco replied, “But I have been cheated on, so I know how shit it feels. You feel like you weren’t good enough, like if you had just tried harder, then they wouldn’t have strayed but the truth of the matter is that it has nothing to do with us. Cheaters are the ones at fault - they do it for all sort of reasons: a lapse of judgement, because they’re bored or because they feel like the relationship is running its course.”

Ben frowned, “Why she cheat on you?”

Draco shrugged, “She thought I was dead. We were in the middle of the war and I’d just been dragged back to Malfoy Manor which was Voldemort’s Headquarters at the time so I suppose I can understand her reasoning.”

“She hurt you a lot, though?” Ben observed.

“Yeah, she did,” Draco agreed, “The person she cheated with was my best friend, and if I’m honest, I think his betrayal hurt more than the rest of it.”

Ben’s eyes widened with realisation when Draco said that. He, along with anyone else who had eyes or ears, knew that Draco’s best friend was Theo.

“But it was a long time ago, and she died not long after,” Draco continued, “But at the time I thought she was the one. I thought we would get married, start a family together. After she died, I got this to honour her.”

Draco pulled his shirt down a little to show Ben a small black and white tattoo of a pansy.

“You must have really loved her,” Ben said miserably.

“I did, but she wasn’t the one, Ben,” Draco said, placing his hand on the young man's shoulder, “She was the first one, and the first one leaves a special mark on your heart. You will never forget them and you shouldn’t, nobody should ever make you forget them. But there will be others, and when you find the real one, what you felt for Dan will pale in comparison.”

Ben smiled over at his boss, “Thanks, Draco. That was…kind of exactly what I needed to hear.”

Draco smiled back at him, “We’ve been around the block a few times, the likes of Harry and I and we would always rather you talked to us than suffered in silence. We’re not just a team, Ben, we’re a family.”

Before Ben could say anything else, a voice called, “Over here, Aurors!”

Draco pushed a past a bush and stepped into a wooded area of the park. Two Ministry officials were awaiting them there, and Draco recognised one of them.

“Wayne, what are we dealing with here?”

Wayne Hopkins, a Hufflepuff that Draco had gone to school with, looked up when he heard Draco’s voice.

“I’m pretty sure it’s a vampire attack.”

“A vampire attack?” Draco asked in alarm, “I’ve been on the job for six years, and I’ve never seen one.”

“You and me both,” Wayne admitted, “Werewolf attacks show up once in a blue moon.”

“Nice pun,” Draco smirked.

Wayne shrugged and shot Draco a grin.

“But vampire attacks? We just don’t see them anymore, not in this country anyway.”

Draco cocked his head and looked down at the victim. She was young and pretty with long red hair, Draco would estimate that she was in her early 20’s. He knelt by her side and examined the marks on her neck.

“Any chance that this was designed to look like a vampire attack as a red herring?”

Wayne looked at the younger man by his side.

“What do you think, Robinson?”

Robinson, a young man with dark brown hair, shook his head.

“Nah, can’t see it. Fangs made the puncture marks; you can tell by the small indent here, next to both marks. See?”

Draco and Ben both nodded.

“And this liquid oozing out of the wound is something that the fangs secrete,” Robinson continued, “It makes the blood thinner so the vampire can feed faster and easier.”

Ben snorted, “Don’t want those poor vamps getting indigestion after all, do we?”

Robinson grinned at him, “That wasn’t where I was going with that, but nice one.”

Draco chuckled, “You’re the new guy?”

“Yeah, I’m Gareth,” The boy said.

“I’m Draco, that’s Ben,” Draco replied.

“How come you know so much about vampires, Gareth?” Ben asked.

“We all have to do a project in our first year with the department,” Wayne said with a wave of his hand, “It’s to show our commitment, learn how to research like a pro, you know? Gareth did his on vampires because he’s kind of obsessed with them.”

“Call it morbid fascination,” Gareth shrugged.

“Well right now, your morbid fascination is going to be incredibly helpful to us,” Draco said honestly, “Any other hints that a true vampire did this?”

Gareth nodded, “The body is completely drained of blood. I don’t just mean he drank a little then snapped her neck; he drained her. She probably passed out due to blood loss halfway through then he finished the job. Her heart would have just given out, and her organs would then have shut down.”

“It wouldn’t have been painful at least,” Wayne pointed out.

Draco sighed, “I suppose. Do we know if she’s wizarding or muggle?”

“Muggle,” Wayne replied, “Dog walker found the body this morning and called the police. We took over the case and had a couple of uniforms from the Magical Law Enforcement Squad obliviate the police officers while we waited for you hotshots to arrive.”

Draco smirked, “You’d make a good Auror, Wayne. I’m telling you, you’re in the wrong line of work.”

“And like I told you the last three times you tried to recruit me, I like my line of work,” Wayne said, shooting Draco an amused smile, “But Gareth and I will work alongside you on this one if you don’t mind?”

“Not at all, we’ll be glad for your input,” Draco said honestly, “Ben and I will get the body to the ME, and we’ll see what Justin can do. If a vampire did do this, then there won’t be any physical evidence to link him to it, but it’s worth a shot. Do you think you guys could set up a temporary office nearby and owl us the co-ordinates? We need to find out what could cause a vampire to lose control like this.”

Wayne nodded, “We’re on it hotshot, but you’re bringing the coffee.”

“Deal,” Draco said with a chuckle.

“You guys are friends?” Ben asked as he and Draco began to prepare the body for transport.

“Yeah, sort of,” Draco said with a smile, “The first few cases Theo and I worked with the DRCMC were animal attack cases, it was a rogue werewolf who was picking some local kids off. We worked alongside Wayne, and we hit it off, he’s a nice guy.”

“Seems it,” Ben mused, “You met the other guy before?”

“Gareth Robinson?” Draco asked, “Nah, he’s new.”

“I don’t remember him from school, but he can’t be much younger than me,” Ben said with a frown.

“His mother is from Romania, so chances are he went to Durmstrang,” Draco said with a shrug.

“And you know this how?”

“Because Wayne is more of a gossip than Harry Potter,” Draco said with a smirk, “And that’s saying something.”

Ben snickered.

“Come on, let’s get this body to Justin and see what he makes of it.”

* * *

“Come in!” Theo called when a knock sounded on his office door.

The door opened, and John stepped in.

“How are you doing, Theo?” He asked as his eyes scanned the office walls where sketch upon sketch was pinned up.

“You checking up on me?” Theo asked, removing the safety glasses that he had been wearing so that he could look at his boss.

“In essence, yes,” John answered, “What are you working on?”

“Multiple things,” Theo replied. With a flick of his wand, the blackboard behind him flipped over; pinned to the back of it was a map of London which was half-finished. A pencil was scribbling back and forwards, alternating between sharp, straight lines and intricate wibbly, wobbly lines that formed lakes or housing estates.

“That’s going to take a while to draw itself up,” Theo said, “You didn’t just want London city, you wanted greater London, so it’s intricate and big. I can’t leave it to its own devices unless it makes a mistake, so it’s only drawing when I’m in the office with it.”

John watched the board in amazement.

“So while that’s doing its thing, I’ve been working on a couple of other bits and bobs,” Theo continued, “One of them for purely selfish reasons but it’s the kind of thing that would benefit the department if I can work it out.”

“Which is?” John asked.

“Restoring a magical core, well actually no – sorry, not restoring – stabilising,” Theo explained, “My magical core will never be what it was after Lucia, and I can handle that. I can handle the lack of power but what I can’t handle is it phasing in and out when I lose my temper or get upset. I’m not a kid who can’t control his magic anymore, but it feels like that sometimes.”

John frowned, “And you can fix that?”

“Maybe,” Theo said with a shrug, “It’s complicated, but I’m working on a way to share magic. It’s possible, we’ve all done it with our other half at some point or other, normally by accident.”

“True,” John said with a nod.

“But some people can control it,” Theo said, “I know curse breakers who can do it. One lends their magic to the other, enabling them to break a difficult curse without draining their magical core or causing them to pass out from exhaustion so what if Aurors could learn how to do it? What if one Auror could lend their magic to another to help them break a difficult ward?”

“It would be a great asset, but it’s also a volatile form of magic,” John cautioned, “And it’s intimate, letting someone share your magic…they feel your magical core, and that’s not something that many people would be comfortable doing.”

“I know,” Theo admitted.

“It will also make it very hard to find test subjects in the department,” John warned him.

“Which is why I’ve got one lined up,” Theo said with an amused smile.

“Draco?” John guessed.

“Precisely. If he shares his magic with me, it might just be enough to allow my magical core to replenish enough to stabilise,” Theo explained, “And from there, we can experiment with magic sharing if you think it’s going to be worthwhile for the department.”

“I’ll think about that, but for the moment, just focus on fixing yourself,” John said. He looked at the wall next to Theo’s desk and asked, “What’s that?”

“Oh just an idea I’m working on,” Theo said offhandedly, “It’ll probably come to nothing, but it’s single-use wands.”

“What?” John asked.

“Uh single spell wands, for self-defence,” Theo said, “It’s stupid, I know.”

“No, no,” John shook his head, “Explain.”

“I thought we could load them with a spell and once that spell is fired, they’re dead until they are in effect, reloaded,” Theo said, “You don’t have to be magical to use them so a child could use it in self-defence or a squib could use it. I thought we could get CPS involved, make sure vulnerable people in the Closes were protected.”

“That’s a brilliant idea,” John said, looking at Theo in amazement, “Ideas like that are what I hired you for, Theo. I want a prototype on my desk by the end of the month.”

Theo grinned, “You got it, boss.”

“And great work on the map,” John added as he opened the door, “Keep it up.”

* * *

“Vampire attack?”

“Yeah,” Draco said, “That was our reaction too.”

Justin looked at the body, “Wow, that’s a new one.”

“Yep, for us too,” Draco said, “And Wayne, he’s never seen anything like it.”

“Wayne’s on the case?” Justin asked curiously.

“Yeah, I always forget you guys were friends,” Draco said with a wave of his hand. He sipped his coffee absentmindedly.

“Not friends, exactly,” Justin shrugged, “House-mates, I suppose or dorm-mates. Either way, I’m intrigued that he hasn’t seen a vampire attack before.”

“They _are_ rare in this country, Justin,” Draco said, “Ben, did you haul the records?”

Ben nodded, “The last recorded vampire attack happened in London in 1998.”

“Of course it did,” Draco said distastefully, “I wonder who could have incited hate amongst the vampire community in 1998.”

Justin frowned, “You’re talking about You-Know-Who, right?”

“Yeah, he’s talking about Voldemort,” Ben said bluntly.

Draco smirked proudly at his protégé.

“Justin, find out anything you can. I need to know if a real vampire killed this girl or if someone wants to make it look that way.”

Justin nodded, “I’ll get right on it,” he promised.

Draco left the morgue with Ben hot on his heels, and as they walked along the corridor, Ben said, “I think this is the real deal, you know?”

“So do I,” Draco said darkly, “And that worries me. Do you know why there have been no recorded vampire attacks since 1998?”

“I’m guessing it has something to do with the fact the Society for the Tolerance of Vampires was founded in 1999?” Ben quipped.

“It has everything to do with that,” Draco said quietly. They reached the apparition point, but Draco didn’t step into the circle, he leant against the wall, “Vampires used to stand out, you could spot one in a crowd anywhere but now? _You_ could be a vampire, and I would have no idea.”

“Until I bit your neck and drank your blood,” Ben said with a grin.

Draco didn’t laugh, “I’m serious, Ben. The S.T.V did a lot to help vampires blend in – they created daylight rings, so they weren’t restricted to night-time outings. They used transfiguration magic to find a way for vampires to look more human. Before they would be cold and pale, fangs always obvious in their mouths but now those fangs retract after they feed. They look human at first glance, and they can live human lives.”

Ben frowned.

“The price that comes with that is that they are not immortal, not anymore,” Draco continued, “They live long lives but not much longer than a powerful witch or wizard.”

“But they don’t kill people anymore?” Ben asked.

Draco shook his head, “The S.T.V started simply enough. They would put ads in the paper for people looking for a quick buck, and those people would donate their blood. Over time, vampires have become more accepted, and now they tend to find a familiar and have a symbiotic relationship with them.”

Ben made a face, “Oh, no. That’s disgusting, you mean they let the vampire feed in exchange for what, sex?”

“Sex…security,” Draco shrugged, “I expect most of the time they fall in love. However sick you think it is, it has saved a lot of lives because it stops vampires from losing control due to hunger and attacking humans.”

“Until now,” Ben said.

“Exactly,” Draco said quietly, “So this can go two ways. Either we have a newly turned vampire who didn’t have a mentor and therefore didn’t get taught the rules for whatever reason. In which case, we need to hunt them down and isolate them until they can be reintegrated into society.”

“Or we have an ancient vampire who has snapped,” Ben said, his eyes widening, “Which would be bad.”

“Very bad,” Draco agreed, “So let’s hope it’s the former.”

Ben nodded and spun on his heel, following Draco back to the main department.

* * *

“Hey guys, just popping my head in,” Draco said as he popped his head around the door to the Homicide Office, “Anything interesting?”

“Nothing,” Terry answered, “We’re on paperwork duty today, it seems.”

“Have fun with that,” Draco smirked, “Ben and I are off to the muggle world to work this case. It might be a vampire attack, definitely looks like one.”

“A vampire attack?” Jason, Terry and Owen chorused.

“I know, rare as hell. This is the first one in seven years,” Draco said with a wave of his hand, “Either way I’ll need you guys to man the ship because Harry isn’t due back until next week.”

Jason nodded.

“Oh, and one other thing,” Draco said, “Owen, I know you and Ben are partners, but you don’t know each other that well yet, do you?”

Owen shook his head, “Not really.”

“But Terry - Ben likes you, and he looks up to you,” Draco said, catching the older Aurors eye, “So if you can, I think you ought to take him under your wing and keep an eye on him. The love of his life just broke up with him; the kid is heartbroken.”

Terry smiled, “I’ll look after him, and I’ll bear in mind how much of a soft touch you are in case I ever need to blackmail you.”

Draco grinned, “It’s nice to have a few more Slytherins on the team!” he said before he ducked out of the office once more.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	44. I Know Your Mistakes and You Know Mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Potters get back from their impromptu vacation, Charlie decides he needs therapy and the Homicide Team continue to work on an intriguing case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:  
> Monsters by James Blunt

“What the hell does that say?”

Harry frowned down at the letter in his hands – an owl had delivered the message seconds after they walked through the gates of Potter Manor.

“Your Dad is calling us to a family meeting.”

“We just got back!” Daphne exclaimed, “Does he have the house on surveillance?"

Harry snorted, “He owns half of the wizarding world so probably.”

“I hate my family,” Daphne muttered as they walked up the path towards Potter Manor. The owl had swooped down to meet them the moment they walked through the gates.

“I’ll tell you what’s more likely,” Harry said as he looked up at the owl, “Your Dad told that owl to sit there until it had delivered the letter.”

“Oh, probably,” Daphne remarked irritably, “When is this family meeting anyway?”

“Tomorrow night at Greengrass House. I thought they were selling that?” Harry asked.

“So did I, with any luck that’s what the meeting is about,” Daphne remarked.

“You know that’s extremely unlikely, don’t you?”

“Of course I do,” Daphne said, rolling her eyes and opening the door of the manor with her hand, “And right now, I don’t care what it’s about, I just care about seeing my kids.”

“Me too,” Harry promised her.

Daphne’s heels clicked against the marble floor of the entrance hall, and a thundering yell came from above.

“MUM AND DAD ARE HOME!”

Daphne smiled fondly at Harry.

“I guess Teddy missed us?”

“Sounds like it,” Harry agreed with a grin.

Teddy ran into the entrance hall and hugged them both. Then Alastor and Andrea hurtled in, and finally, Lilly and Neville joined them all. Lilly was bouncing Thea in her arms as the kids bombarded Harry and Daphne with hugs.

“They look better,” Lilly whispered.

Neville nodded, “He looks happy again, Lil, _properly_ happy.”

By the time they managed to break free, Harry and Daphne were both chuckling. Daphne was holding Alastor and Harry had Andrea on his hip while Teddy stood very close to them both, afraid that they would leave again, no doubt.

“Good trip?” Lilly asked.

“The best,” Daphne promised with a warm smile, “Thank you both for everything.”

“Anytime,” Neville said with an easy smile, “Did you two talk?”

“Until we had nothing left to talk about,” Harry promised. He looked over at his wife, “And we’re going to be just fine, aren’t we?”

Daphne’s smile was more genuine than it had been in a while.

“Yes, we are,” She agreed.

“Good,” Lilly chirped, “And don’t get me wrong, we are thrilled that it worked and that you two seem like your old selves again, but we are also exhausted.”

Daphne laughed, “Of course you are. They might act like innocent little angels, but this lot are hard work.”

“We were on our best behaviour, Mum,” Teddy promised.

Neville smiled, “Ted’s right, they were all as good as gold. Thea even slept through the night last night.”

Daphnes eyes widened, “She did not? That little pest has never done that for me!”

Lilly smirked, “I’m a Healer, Daphne. I know things.”

“You need to tell me all of the things,” Daphne said, making the others chuckle.

“A tiny bit of infant Gaviscon in her milk - it settled her stomach, and she was out like a light,” Lilly confessed.

“Oh Lilly, I love you,” Daphne said, putting Alastor down and hugging her best friend.

Lilly laughed and handed Thea to Daphne, “I know.”

Neville put his arm around Lilly, who was struggling to contain a large yawn.

“If you two are sure that you’re good, we’ll head home and catch up on some sleep.”

“Go for it,” Harry said, “We’re fine, and I’m not going back to work until Monday anyway. I owled Draco, and he said he’d square it all with Shep.”

“He’s an alright boss,” Neville said with a smile, “He’ll give you all the time you need to heal so that when you do come back - you’re at your best again.”

Harry nodded his agreement, “Nobody can replace Jack, but John’s trying his best - I’ll give him that.”

Lilly yawned, and Neville chuckled, “Come on, baby. I think you need to sleep for at least a day before you start your new job.”

Daphne raised an eyebrow, “New job?”

Lilly rolled her eyes, “Now that I’m officially pregnant, they’re throwing me into the training centre.”

“Good,” Daphne said firmly, “It’s what’s best. You need to make sure that nothing happens to those miracle babies.”

“I know,” Lilly said with a small smile, “But it still feels like I’m getting shelved.”

“For now, not forever,” Harry promised Lilly, “You’re one of the best Trauma Healers that we work with Lil, do you think they’ll keep you locked away in the training centre forever?”

Neville squeezed her shoulder.

“Harry’s right.”

Lilly yawned again and said something along the lines of “Uh-huh.”

Neville chuckled and guided her out of the house.

Harry looked around at the kids and said, “So, I’ve got the rest of the week off. What do you want to do?”

“Quidditch!” Alastor yelled.

“Dance!” Andrea said.

Teddy smiled at Harry, “Does that mean you have time to help me with my greenhouse now?”

“I have time for that,” Harry promised, “But we might need to call in reinforcements because Uncle Nev has taught me a lot, but I’m still no Herbologist.”

Daphne laughed, “Okay, here’s the deal - Quidditch this afternoon then dancing tonight. Tomorrow morning Ted, you and Dad get up early and get to work on the greenhouse.”

“What about school?” Teddy asked.

“You can have a few days off, love,” Daphne answered.

“Yes!”

* * *

Caroline was just finishing up for the day when a knock sounded on the door of her office. She sighed and braced herself, half-expecting John to walk in and demand a run-down of Harry’s mental health. She had been expecting it all week, ever since her meeting with the chosen one on Monday.

“Come in!”

The door opened, and Charlie peered around it.

“Bad timing?”

“I was just closing up,” Caroline said with a smile, “What brings you here?”

“Well,” Charlie said slowly, “I don’t want therapy, even though I might well need it.”

Caroline raised an eyebrow at him.

“But what I do need is a friend,” Charlie finished, “So I thought we could maybe get some food and talk about things?”

“No,” Caroline said as she grabbed her handbag.

Charlie faltered, “No?”

Caroline nodded, “You are familiar with the word?”

“I uh…well yeah obviously,” Charlie said, rushing to follow her out of the office, “But why? I thought you wanted to help me.”

“I will happily talk to you in this office, Healer to client,” Caroline said, slinging her bag over her shoulder, “But I will not talk to you about it on a date.”

“Who said it was a date?” Charlie returned.

“Food implies a date,” Caroline said bluntly.

“Okay,” Charlie reasoned, “How about coffee? Could you talk to a client over coffee because he feels uncomfortable in an office setting?”

Caroline raised an eyebrow at him, “I have a nice office.”

Charlie made a face, “No offence but the therapy chair-”

“It’s a chaise longue, “Caroline cut in.

Charlie shot her an amused look.

“It’s a therapy chair, and it, combined with the positive colours and the motivational quotes, it just doesn’t do it for me.”

“But coffee makes you talk?” Caroline questioned.

Charlie shrugged, “The smell of coffee, the loudness of the coffee shop and all of the comings and goings, it reminds me of home.”

“Your childhood home, The Burrow, right?”

Charlie frowned, “Yeah, how did you know that?”

Caroline shrugged, “I’ve had a lot of Aurors as clients, Charlie. One of them talks about that place very fondly.”

Charlie smiled, “Harry.”

Caroline said nothing; she couldn’t because of patient-Healer confidentiality.

“So coffee is okay?” Charlie questioned when they reached the end of the corridor.

Caroline could have rolled her eyes as John rounded the corner, “Yes, coffee is fine. Can I meet you outside the building? I need to have a quick chat with my boss.”

Charlie nodded, “Sure, don’t stand me up though, Lamb!”

Caroline bit back an amused smile as Charlie rounded the corner, greeting John politely as he did so.

“You’re seeing Charlie Weasley?” John asked with interest.

“No, no, we’re just having coffee because he’s unfamiliar with an office setting,” Caroline said quickly.

John raised an eyebrow, “I meant as a client.”

“Oh,” Caroline said, her cheeks flushing red, “Yes, I am seeing him as a client. We met at a party, and I thought he needed some help, so I gave him my card.”

John smiled in amusement, “I know you freelance to make ends meet, Caroline. I’m sorry that I don’t send you enough traumatised Aurors.”

“Do _not_ be sorry about that,” Caroline said with a shake of her head, “I presume you’re here about your second in command?”

John nodded and leant against the wall.

“He’s coming back on Monday, so before I welcome him back into the department, can you tell me how he’s holding up?”

“Honestly, better than I thought when he first walked into my office,” Caroline confessed, “He has got a lot going on at home, and he needs to work through that, so the temporary part-time hours that you gave him are going to help a lot.”

“I can’t take the credit for that; it was Draco who suggested it,” John confessed, “He seemed to know that something was going on at home. It’s not bad, is it?”

Caroline shook her head, “Nothing that will set off any mental triggers for him. He and his wife are both healthy, they have no intentions of divorcing, and there are no affairs at play. Honestly, sir, they have four children, and they are only in their 20’s, they both have high-stress jobs, and it has been the year from hell for them. They will get through it, and despite how it looked, Harry did not intentionally try to take his life.”

John frowned at that sentence.

“I know, it doesn’t make sense,” Caroline agreed, “But he didn’t go out there with the intent to kill himself. He was scared of what an explosion of accidental magic could do to the people around him so he would rather hurt himself than innocent people. He hasn’t said so yet, but I think he feels like Neville has failed him because if it weren’t for his injury, Neville would have stopped it before it got that far.”

John nodded, “Alright, have you arranged a follow-up?”

“I have, he is meeting with me again on Monday,” Caroline answered, “And I have no intentions of letting him coax me into signing a return to active duty before he’s ready.”

“I appreciate that,” John said. He pushed himself off the wall and smirked.

“Enjoy your coffee date, Caroline.”

Caroline’s cheeks flushed as she hurried out of the corridor away from John.

* * *

“So,” Charlie said as he stirred his cappuccino absentmindedly, “You had a point, about me having some issues and those issues… I mean, I’ve had them for years, but I always thought I was dealing with them by myself. Relationships broke up, and it didn’t bother me, but then my marriage broke up and you came into my life with your business card and your common sense and…yeah, I’ve got a problem with sex.”

“You’re a sex addict?” Caroline asked calmly.

Charlie frowned, “I mean…I don’t know if you could say that. I was married to Astoria for nearly three years, and I never strayed. There were times when she was out of the country for weeks, and it wasn’t like I had to run off and find someone to sleep with, you know?”

Caroline nodded.

“It’s not the amount of sex I have; it’s the amount of people I’ve had it with,” Charlie admitted, “And it’s my relationship with sex. I use it as an aid - to make myself feel better or to run from my problems.”

“Okay,” Caroline said simply, “First of all, you are not alone. A lot of people use sex to make themselves feel more confident or to make themselves feel better. Secondly, we can deal with that when we get to the root of _why_ you feel you need to use sex in that way. But, the bigger issue is the one you don’t want to talk about.”

Charlie sighed, “The fact I’m into people way too young for me?”

“I was going to ask if it was a theme,” Caroline admitted, “The young wife then the young Auror at the Halloween party.”

“Yeah, it’s kind of a theme,” Charlie said, leaning back in his chair, “I mean it’s not an exclusive thing, there was Rory, and she’s the same age as me, but that didn’t work out..”

“Can you tell me a little bit more about that?”

“Aurora was my high school girlfriend,” Charlie explained, “We were together for about a year, but we broke up then I lived in Romania for years. When I came back home after the war, we tried to rekindle the fire, but we had both changed too much, we just weren’t the same people anymore.”

“Okay,” Caroline said, “So how many other long-term relationships have you had?”

“Not many,” Charlie said honestly, “After Rory, there was Romania, and it wasn’t the kind of place where you could have a long-term relationship. It was all about the work that we were doing there, but I mean people still have needs, so I had some flings and some bars satisfied urges like that.”

Caroline was unphased by this comment; she just nodded and sipped her coffee. At the same time, she surveyed Charlie.

“So after Romania, there was the rekindled relationship with Aurora, and then Astoria came right after that?”

Charlie nodded, “Yeah.”

“So you have only had two long-term relationships,” Caroline clarified, “How many sexual partners have you had?”

Charlie made a face, “Uh…a lot. I mean I haven’t kept count, but it’s in triple figures.”

Caroline’s eyes widened, “Right, that is…uh…”

“A lot, I know,” Charlie said, casting his gaze downwards.

“I assume with both men and women?” Caroline asked calmly.

“Did the Halloween party give me away?” Charlie asked sarcastically.

“Honestly, no,” Caroline admitted, “People who have _that_ much sex don’t tend to discriminate.”

Charlie snorted in amusement.

“More men or women?” Caroline asked.

Charlie frowned, “Uh women. There’s not much choice in Romania so,” he shrugged, “I learned not to be fussy I suppose. Why do you need to know that?”

“I don’t,” Caroline admitted with a smirk, “I was just curious.”

Charlie laughed, “What happened to patient-Healer confidentiality?”

“I’m not going to tell anyone; therefore I am adhering to that,” Caroline said with a sly smile. “Do you find you have a complex relationship with the women who were in your life in your adolescent days?”

Charlie snorted, “Hell yeah. My big brother Bill is dating this girl called Lara, who hates me.”

“Because you slept with her in high school?” Caroline guessed.

“No, because _she_ fancied me in high school which I knew, but I ended up snogging her older sister,” Charlie admitted sheepishly, “So then she dated my brother but Bill broke up with her when he left for Egypt.”

“Just like you broke up with Aurora when you left for Romania,” Caroline said, “I can see a lot of similarities between your life and your brothers. Would you say you admire him? That perhaps you chose certain paths in life to be more like him?”

Charlie frowned, “I mean…no…not intentionally anyway, and I didn’t break up with Aurora because I was leaving for Romania. Everyone always thinks that, but Rory and I broke up towards the end of our last year at school.”

“Why did you break up?” Caroline asked curiously.

“Because we wanted completely different things at that time in our life,” Charlie confessed, “She wanted to take a gap year and travel. Then after that, she had visions of settling down, getting married, probably having kids and back then, I didn’t want that. I wanted to do something exciting, to make my mark on the world and if I’m honest to get away from all of the kids.”

Caroline raised an eyebrow, “Kids?”

“All of my siblings,” Charlie admitted, “It’s why Bill left too, and we both know that even if it’s something we’re both too ashamed to talk about. I love my siblings, but Bill and I spent a lot of our teenage years helping Mum raise Ron and Ginny in particular. That was when our dad started working stupid hours because he had seven kids to feed, and times were harder than ever. Mum was on the verge of a nervous breakdown trying to balance the finances so Bill and I spent our summers with our siblings and once we left school, we wanted to leave and make our way in life.”

“Why is that something that you are both too ashamed to talk about?” Caroline asked.

“Because it’s selfish,” Charlie said quietly, “It was so damn selfish, but the more Mum nagged at us to come back, the more we didn’t want to and…it’s fucking disgusting that it took the death of a sibling to bring me back…”

Charlie shook his head, “Bill came back for a girl which is fitting because Bill was always the romantic but not me. Nothing could bring me back. I thought I would never live in the UK again, but then Fred died, and everything changed.”

Caroline reached across the table and lay her hand on top of his, “Death changes your perspective, Charlie. I am, however, sensing that you are holding something back. It wasn’t just the death of your brother that brought you home, but you feel guilty about that, so you don’t want to tell me the other reason.”

Charlie swallowed, “Dora.”

Caroline looked him in the eye, “Nymphadora Tonks? One of the Aurors who died in the final battle?”

Charlie nodded, a faraway look in his eyes, “Dora was my best friend and…yeah, as much as I hate to do this to Rory, she was probably also my first love.”

“But you were never together?”

“We were together, but it wasn’t a long-term relationship,” Charlie said, and the regret that he felt glistened in his eyes, “We were in the same year at school, she was in Hufflepuff, and I was in Gryffindor, so the only class we got to talk in was Herbology. She became my bench partner one day, and we hit it off, but it never went anywhere because she thought I was too fly for my own good and she was just…” he smiled, “Merlin, she was just a free spirit. My brother once described her as beautiful, inside and out, and he was right.”

“But it didn’t last?”

Charlie shook his head, “We had a great summer. She took me to a Weird Sisters Concert, and I took her camping in Snowdonia; she fell in love with the dragons, and I thought we would be able to make it work when I went to Romania, but it was too much.”

“The distance?” Caroline guessed.

“Life,” Charlie said with a sad smile, “She was training to be an Auror, and I was working 16 hour days in Romania. We tried, but it wasn’t working, and she was just…she was perfect. She would never have asked me to come home for her, but she wanted me to. I was too young and stupid to see that at the time, and I didn’t start coming home regularly until the war hotted up. By that point, it was obvious that she was head over heels for Remus, so I didn’t shove my nose in where they didn’t want it.”

Caroline nodded slowly, “So you were in love with this young, free-spirited woman, and you now seek young, free-spirited women?”

Charlie’s eyes widened, “That…when you say it like that, it makes sense. Do you think I’m still hung up on Dora, even after all of this time?”

“Do you think you are?” Caroline asked, eyeing Charlie with interest.

Charlie thought back to the night of the Halloween party and what he had said ‘to’ Dora when he went outside for a cigarette.

“Yeah, I think I might be.”

“That’s something we need to get to the bottom of another day,” Caroline said, glancing at her watch, “But you will need to bring your brother to our next meeting.”

“What?” Charlie asked sharply, “Which one?”

“The one that you have an inferiority complex about,” Caroline said, shrugging her coat on.

Charlie didn’t even deny it, “Bill?”

Caroline grabbed her handbag, “You think he’s better than you, so you try to follow in his footsteps. He left for Egypt; you left for Romania. He married a younger woman and had a child; then you married a younger woman. He got divorced; you got divorced,” she waved her hand, “You see?”

“Yeah,” Charlie admitted, “But do I seriously need to bring him with me next time? I mean, how am I going to explain that one to him?”

“I don’t know, but you will have to because yes, you need to bring him to our next meeting,” Caroline said simply, “I won’t come to your own home, but I can handle coffee shops if you can’t handle the office. Owl me with a time and place that works for you, but make it after 6 pm so that it’s out of my Auror Office hours.”

Charlie nodded, “Will do, and thanks, Caroline.”

Caroline smiled and slung her handbag on, “Your welcome. Have a nice evening, Charlie.”

* * *

Harry could tell that there was something on Daphne’s mind as they lay in bed on Thursday night. They had talked about everything that mattered on their little holiday – they had worked out where they were going now and what their next steps were, but Harry had a feeling that Daphne had something on her mind. She was quieter than usual, but it seemed like she couldn’t concentrate on the book in front of her because she hadn’t turned a page in ten minutes.

Harry didn’t want to push; he was aware that he was walking a very fine line with her right now so crossing it when he had just gotten back in her good graces was not something he wanted to do.

Daphne sighed and closed her book.

“Do you think there’s some truth in that false future Caroline showed you?”

Harry frowned, “No. How can there be? It was a vision created by one specific event, and that event is over.”

“I know, but some things just happen regardless, don’t they? Some things are just…written in the stars, I suppose,” Daphne mused.

Harry looked bemused, “What do you mean?”

Daphne sighed again, “When Lilly and I saw that false future in Paris, a lot of it didn’t happen obviously, but I can’t keep coming back to some freaky similarities to real life.”

“Okay…” Harry said slowly, “Like?”

“Like Hannah and Neville,” Daphne said, “They couldn’t have kids, and if it weren’t for Lilly being a muggle-born and suggesting IVF, Neville and Lilly wouldn’t have been able to have kids.”

“Which would suggest that it’s a biological issue for Neville, but that the false future didn’t account for muggle technology,” Harry said logically, “Please don’t tell Neville or Lilly that though. They are getting the miracle babies they always wanted; they don’t need to go back to that old ‘whose fault is it’ argument.”

“I know,” Daphne agreed, “There were other things in that fake Paris future though. I was still a Curse Breaker; you were still an Auror. Despite being in different relationships, we were still attracted to each other, but we met at the wrong time – when you were married to Ginny, and I was with Susan.”

“So our love is written in the stars,” Harry said with a grin, “Like Romeo and Juliet?”

“Shut up,” Daphne said, but a ghost of a smile slipped onto her face.

Harry chuckled.

“And the big one was the pureblood killings,” Daphne finished.

Harry’s head snapped up.

“What?”

“Didn’t I tell you about that part?” Daphne asked.

“No,” Harry said with a shake of his head, “You told me about how I was married to Ginny, and we hated each other, and about how you and Susan were hot lesbians.”

Daphne rolled her eyes.

“But you didn’t mention pureblood killings,” Harry finished.

“Well, one of the things we saw was a scene in Susan’s office. She was Assistant Head of the DMLE, and you were Head Auror. The two of you were talking about a rebellion and anti-pureblood crimes being on the rise. Then you said it was only a matter of time until the assassinations started and that I was going to be the first on their hit list because I was dating Susan.”

Harry frowned, “So Lucia would have gained even more control if it wasn’t for the fact that we all went back to school, and Draco and Theo became Aurors. I mean…we would never have caught her if not for those maps that Theo made, and Draco was the one who made the arrest.”

Daphne nodded, “See? Some things are set in stone. So what if some things from that fake future that you saw with Caroline are set in stone too?”

“What are you so worried about?” Harry asked, meeting her eye, “I swear to you that I didn’t intentionally try to kill myself and that I won’t do it again.”

“I know, it’s not that I’m worried about,” Daphne admitted, “I just can’t deal with my baby marrying a Nott.”

Harry couldn’t help himself; he burst out laughing.

Daphne glared at him.

“I’m sorry,” Harry said through his laughter, “It’s just that of all of the shitty things in that future, that’s what you’re worried about actually happening? Andrea marrying Charlus?”

“I spent my whole life making sure that I wouldn’t sleep with my cousin. I can’t have her marrying the child of my cousin!”

“Babe, _you_ married your second cousin,” Harry snickered.

Daphne smacked him around the back of the head.

“It’s not the same!”

Harry managed to compose himself, “Okay, sorry. I’ll take this very seriously. If Andrea ever starts dating Charlus, I’ll make sure the relationship ends before they can get married.”

“Good,” Daphne said, shooting him an amused look, “A Potter becoming a Nott? Honestly.”

“So no issues with Al dating a Longbottom then?” Harry asked, amusement shining in his eyes.

“Oh, don’t get me started on that!” Daphne exclaimed, “Because of your blood bond, they’re cousins!”

“Hardly,” Harry scoffed, “I mean Alastor isn’t even ours, biologically, for a start.”

“It’s the principal, Harry!” Daphne said wit ha shake of her head, “I’m not completely unreasonable about who they marry, I can even handle a Black but never a Nott.”

“What about a Weasley?” Harry joked.

“Oh, Merlin, no.”

* * *

“Bill! What are you doing at 6.30 on Monday?”

Bill frowned as his brother's voice drifted into his ‘wolf cave’. A roar followed then Charlie yelled, “Go to sleep, Betsy!”

“Uh, nothing. Why?” Bill called back with a shake of his head.

“We’re going out for coffee.”

Bill put down the broom that he was working on and opened the door.

“What?”

“Coffee,” Charlie said as he wrestled a dragon into a cage, “It’s a drink. We’re going out to drink it on Monday at 6.30 pm.”

“With who?” Bill asked suspiciously.

“Caroline,” Charlie answered.

“Your _therapist_?”

Charlie rolled his eyes and locked the cage, patting Betsy the Chinese Fireball on the head as he did so.

“Yes, my therapist. You need to come to my next meeting.”

“Why?” Bill asked incredulously.

“Because I have an inferiority complex and all of my bad decisions have were caused by the fact I’m desperately trying to be like you,” Charlie answered sarcastically.

Bill considered that for a moment, then nodded.

“Damn, she _is_ a good therapist, isn’t she?”

“Fuck you!” Charlie responded.

Bill just snorted in amusement and walked back into the wolf cave.

* * *

Caroline couldn’t help but dwell on her ‘meeting’ with Charlie as she attempted to work through some paperwork on Friday morning.

She was leaning against the filing cabinet in the hospital wing of the Auror Training Complex when a familiar voice snapped her back to reality.

“You do realise that looking at those files isn’t going to make them go away, right?”

Caroline looked up and laughed.

“Hey, Lilly. What brings you here?”

Lilly rolled her eyes, “I’m pregnant with twins, therefore officially off active duty until they pop out.”

Caroline chuckled, “I know it seems like the worst thing in the world right now, but it is for the best.”

“What’s for the best?”

“Being off active duty because of pregnancy,” Caroline answered as Jennifer Keller joined them by the filing cabinet.

“Oh yeah, that’s definitely for the best,” Jennifer agreed, “And why are we all having a party by the filing cabinet? Is there coffee here?”

“No, Merlin, I wish there was,” Lilly said with a longing sigh, “That is the hardest thing about pregnancy, the lack of coffee. I mean honestly, women in the olden days drank wine and smoked throughout pregnancy, why can’t we have more than three cups of coffee a day?”

Jennifer raised an eyebrow at her and smiled.

“Do I need to remind you of the infant mortality and stillbirth rates in the olden days?”

“No, but could you please just let me have a moan about all of this?” Lilly asked with a roll of her eyes, “I’ve just been tossed here for babysitting duty while Lucille steps up as Senior Healer in the Trauma Department. I mean she’s going to kill people, she’s my friend, and I love her, but she’s a terrible Healer.”

“None of us aspired to work here, you know?” Jennifer said with a slight smile, “Do you think we trained as Healers to end up working in a training centre?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that,” Lilly said sheepishly.

“All Jennifer is saying is that we ended up here by circumstance, but we fell in love with the job,” Caroline cut in diplomatically, “I always wanted to be a Trauma Healer, but then I fell pregnant, and Eddie died. All of a sudden, I was a single parent, and I couldn’t put myself in the firing line, so I decided to help the survivors of the war that killed Eddie.”

“And that’s honourable,” Lilly said honestly, “You are so good at what you do, Caroline. Honestly, to get Harry Potter talking to you, you must be.”

Caroline chuckled and glanced at Jennifer.

“And Jennifer has been right where you are, so she’s the best person to ask for advice.”

“Minus the twin part of your pregnancy, Caroline’s right,” Jennifer said with an easy smile, “I was a Trauma Healer; I did the Auror section of the course just like you did so that I could accompany Aurors on missions. I viewed this place as a retirement home for Aurors and Trauma Healers, just like you do.”

Lilly bit her lip guiltily.

“Then I got married, and I realised that I couldn’t do this forever,” Jennifer continued, “When Rodney and I decided to start a family, we knew that things had to change. When I fell pregnant, my boss posted me here, and I swore blind that once I’d had the baby, I would go back to active duty but I fell in love with this place. I enjoyed training younger Healers up, and I enjoyed the simulation room missions because I could experience the action without the risk.”

Lilly frowned as she thought about that.

“Then just after Meredith turned two, Rodney got hurt in a raid gone wrong. John nearly died getting him out, and the two of them were laid out for weeks-”

“John?” Lilly cut in.

“Sheppard, yes,” Caroline said, “He and Rodney were partners for a good few years in-between the wars.”

Jennifer nodded, “When he recovered, Rodney took a post here because he didn’t want Meredith to lose her father.”

Lilly leant against the filing cabinet.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t know any of that. I didn’t even know that you had any kids, let alone that you were married to McKay.”

“You didn’t know that?” Jennifer asked in surprise, “I thought it was as badly kept a secret to the recruits and junior Healers as John and Elizabeth’s relationship.”

“I clocked it the minute I set foot in this building,” Caroline teased.

“You can read peoples auras, you cheater,” Jennifer shot back.

Lilly snorted in amusement, “What age is your daughter?”

“Meredith is 13,” Jennifer replied with a smile, “She’s in her third year at Hogwarts.”

“Hufflepuff just like her mother,” Caroline added with an amused smile.

Jennifer just shot Caroline an amused look, “And Gracie just started Hogwarts this year, she’s in Ravenclaw like Rodney was.”

“So you all went to school together then?” Lilly asked, “You, Rodney, John, Elizabeth and Rob?”

Jennifer nodded, “Yes, but none of us knew each other that well at school. It wasn’t until we all entered the Auror circuit that we got talking. John and Rob were both in Gryffindor, but Rob hung out with the Hufflepuff guys that I avoided like the plague, so they didn’t talk that much. Elizabeth, Rodney, Cameron and Sam all knew each other pretty well mind you because they were all Ravenclaws.”

Lilly nodded thoughtfully, “So you think I might fall in love with this place?”

“We think this place might surprise you,” Caroline said diplomatically.

“Ladies!” Janet Frasier’s voice barked from her office door, “Is there a reason why you are gossiping when there is work to be done?”

Jennifer made a face, “Sorry, Janet, we were just welcoming Lilly into the department.”

Janet rolled her eyes, “Then do it while taking inventory of the medicine cabinet!” she barked as she shut her office door loudly.

“You might never learn to love that though,” Caroline said with a sly grin as she disappeared back into her office.

Lilly made a face, “I want an office.”

“Don’t we all?” Jennifer joked, “But inventory awaits.”

“Yay,” Lilly replied sarcastically.

* * *

Draco was just about to take his lunch when a coroners report landed on his desk. He rolled his eyes, tucked it under his sleeve and headed for Theo’s office.

_Knock. Knock._

“Come in!”

Draco stepped into the cupboard.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” Theo said with a smile, “I have great news.”

“I hope I do too,” Draco said, throwing himself into a chair and opening up the report.

“Ooh, dead body,” Theo said, wheeling himself over to Draco, “Interesting.”

“It’s my vampire attack victim,” Draco said, scanning the document, “And I don’t like what Justin found in his post-mortem.”

“Not a vampire?”

“No, it _was_ a vampire,” Draco said darkly, “That’s the problem. Why would a vampire just turn like that?”

Theo shrugged, “Maybe that was his familiar. Look at what Justin wrote down there.”

Draco looked at the spot where Theo’s finger rested. In Justin’s neat handwriting next to the box, “ **OLD** **INJURIES** ” were the words, _“Several puncture wounds in various places on the neck, suggesting that the victim had been fed on repetitively by the vampire.”_

“Why would a vampire turn on their familiar like that?” Draco asked, looking up at Theo, “They don’t do that, Theo. They feed their familiars their blood to keep them young, and then they feed on the familiars to sustain themselves. Once the familiars start to age, if the vampire truly loves them, then they turn them, and they find a new familiar together and so forth until it’s a coven.”

Theo raised an eyebrow at Draco, “That’s some kinky shit, and you know a lot about it.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “Voldemort tried to involve vampires; he tried to get them on his side. Some did turn, but for the most part, they weren’t interested. I asked my father why, and he explained that vampires didn’t care much about the big picture, they were just loyal to their covens.”

“Their families,” Theo realised.

“Exactly,” Draco agreed, “So why would this vampire just turn like that?”

“I don’t know,” Theo frowned, “But that is worrying.”

“Very worrying,” Draco agreed, tapping his fingers against the post-mortem nervously, “But you said that you had good news?”

“Yeah,” Theo said. He looked at his best friend nervously, “I found a way to stabilise my magical core. I’m 95% sure that it will work.”

“That’s good news,” Draco said, looking up at Theo, “What do you need to do?”

“It’s more what you need to do,” Theo admitted, “It would involve magic sharing.”

“Magic sharing?” Draco asked as he looked up at his friend with wide eyes.

“Wouldn’t be the first time we’ve done it,” Theo said with a shrug to cover up his anxiety over what he was asking Draco to do.

“Yes, but the last time we did it, it was an accident,” Draco pointed out, “I don’t even know how we did it. There was the thunderstorm, and then we were…you know, and that happened, that blast of magic. It wasn’t like we controlled it.”

“It happens by accident a lot,” Theo admitted, “When the moment is fraught with emotion usually, but we can control it. Bill and Daphne do it sometimes when they need to break a difficult curse, and Daphne has taught Harry how to control it too.”

“Okay, in theory, let’s say we _could_ learn how to control it,” Draco reasoned, “How would it work?”

“You would share your magic with me which would replenish my magical core just enough for it to stabilise,” Theo explained, “At the moment, it’s just too low to do that which is why my magic phases in and out.”

“Well,” Draco said with a frown, “It's worth considering. I’ll talk to Bill at the Burrow on Sunday, and I’ll let you know what he says.”

Theo smiled warmly, “Thanks, Draco. It means a lot; you know that?”

“Of course I do,” Draco promised his best friend.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	45. Do You Still Believe in One Another?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cygnus Greengrass calls for a family meeting, Daphne gets her fight back and Hermione gets some good news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:  
> Hey Brother by Avicii.

On Friday evening, the Potter and Longbottom families were gathered together to gossip, in essence.

“So let me get this straight,” Lilly said, “Your dad and Narcissa have ‘invited’ you to a family meeting but stated that the kids couldn’t come?”

“Pretty much,” Harry answered as he straightened his tie.

“So it’s not a family meeting then, is it?” Neville cut in, “More like a family intervention?”

“That’s exactly what it is,” Daphne remarked, “But if you honestly think that Harry and I are Hufflepuff enough to stand for their shit, then you don’t know us at all.”

Lilly smirked, “I have a lot of friends who were in Hufflepuff.”

“How unfortunate for you,” Daphne teased, shooting the former Ravenclaw a smirk.

“Well, well,” Lilly mused, “This is a side of Daphne Greengrass I haven’t seen in a long time. What happened in that villa, huh?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Daphne asked, winking at her best friend and stalking out of the room in her high heeled boots.

Lilly shook her head in amusement and looked at Harry.

“Seriously, what did you say to her?”

“That she needed to get her fight back,” Harry said with a grin, “And I think she has, don’t you?”

Neville smiled slightly, “As romantic as that is, what _did_ you do for three days in that villa?”

Harry grinned, “We talked, Nev, just like you told us to,” he said mischievously then he followed his wife out of the kitchen.

Lilly raised an eyebrow at Neville, “They had sex.”

“For three days straight,” Neville added.

“No wonder he’s in a good mood,” Lilly finished, making Neville snigger.

* * *

The air in the drawing-room of Greengrass House was icy. Harry and Daphne felt it the moment they entered the room, and they were unsurprised to find Astoria there too.

“Father,” Daphne remarked calmly, “I believe you demanded our presence.”

Cygnus sighed and looked between Daphne and Astoria.

“I called a family meeting because some things happened last week. You both said some things, and we need to discuss that.”

Daphne scoffed, “Do we?”

“You called me an alcoholic, Daphne,” Cygnus said, “You called me a bad father.”

“You were an alcoholic, and you were a bad father,” Daphne said sharply, “You have made your amends, done your penance or whatever you want to call it but you left me traumatised for a long time. I thought you had made Astoria feel that way too, but I won’t speak for her anymore. She has made it clear that she has her own mind, her own voice and is capable of speaking for herself now.”

Narcissa sighed, “Daphne, there is no need to speak about your sister that way.”

“Narcissa is right,” Cygnus said, “You were so close as children. Even when you discovered that you were only half-sisters, it never affected your relationship but look at you now.”

“And whose fault is that?” Daphne snapped, “You threw her in at the deep end, Dad. She was too young and look at what the job has done to her! If you aimed to make her more like you then congratulations, you succeeded.”

Astoria rolled her eyes, “I am right here, Daphne!”

“I am aware of that,” Daphne remarked sarcastically.

“Stop it,” Narcissa snapped, “Stop acting like spoiled little princesses! Yes, Astoria has made mistakes but do you think that she is the only one? You have not made anywhere near as much effort since you had children, Daphne.”

“Maybe because I got sick of always being the one making an effort!” Daphne snapped, “And with all due respect, Narcissa, I understand why you have a right to be at this meeting because you are by marriage, a Greengrass. However, you are _not_ our mother, so you do not have the right to tell Astoria or me how to live our lives.”

Harry placed his hand on Daphne’s arm.

“Enough.”

Narcissa stood up and drew herself to her full height. The look on her face was stony - one they hadn’t seen in years. Her expression and the look in her eyes reminded them that she was Bellatrix Lestrange’s younger sister.

“How dare you?” Narcissa said quietly, “I understand that you are upset and that you and Harry are going through a difficult time right now, but that is entirely uncalled for.”

“She’s right,” Astoria said from the other side of the room.

Daphne looked over at her sister in surprise.

“She may not be our mother, but she has done a far better job in the last five years than our mother did in the 19 before that,” Astoria retorted, “You have no right to bring Narcissa into an argument that is strictly between us.”

“It’s not between us, Astoria,” Daphne remarked, “It stopped being about us when you decided to marry Charlie. You made it complicated when you married my boss’s brother when you married a man that Harry thinks of as a brother and do you know what? Nobody is angry about the fact the marriage broke up; these things happen; people fall in and out of love all of the time. But do you know what we are pissed about?”

“The fact I went home with Jason to piss him off?” Astoria answered.

“Exactly,” Daphne said, “You couldn’t just leave well enough alone, you had to rub salt in the wound, and that’s not you. That’s not the girl I knew – it was vindictive and cruel, not the kind of thing I thought someone like you could do to a man who you loved, to the _first_ man you loved.”

Astoria swallowed and looked down at her hands.

“It’s who the job is forcing you to become, and I don’t like it,” Daphne said quietly, “I have tried to tell you that so many times, but it doesn’t feel like you ever listen. I love you, and you will always be my sister, but I can’t be the one who is constantly trying, not anymore. I need to put myself first for a while.”

Astoria nodded, “I’m sorry.”

Cygnus watched them warily.

“I know you are,” Daphne said.

The icy air seemed to dissipate a little, but Daphne knew that the family meeting was far from over. She turned to look at Narcissa and instantly felt guilty when she saw the hurt in the older woman’s eyes.

“I’m sorry, what I said _was_ uncalled for,” Daphne admitted.

Narcissa bowed her head.

“I have never tried to be a mother to you girls. I came into your life when you were both adults, and I am grateful that you even accepted my marriage to your father. I know I am not your mother, Daphne, but I have been more of a grandmother to your children than I have been to Draco’s because Draco won’t let me. He still blames me for the way that his father and I brought him up and I can tell myself a million times that it wasn’t my fault, that I raised him that way because of his father’s coercion. But the truth of the matter is that I let Lucius raise him that way, I did not put up a fight, not until it was too late as far as Draco is concerned. Draco can tell me that he forgives me, but deep down, he knows that I never stopped his father’s cruelty, and for that reason, he will never trust me with his children.”

Daphne felt even more guilty because she knew that Narcissa was right; that was precisely how Draco felt.

Narcissa smiled slightly, “But you do not have that history with me, and I know you feel guilty every time you ask your father and I to look after the children, but it means the world to me that you do. I love spending time with them. I see it as a chance to do things differently than I did with Draco. So the next time you accuse me of not being your mother, please remember that.”

Daphne swallowed a lump in her throat and nodded. She crossed the room and embraced the older woman in a hug. Harry smiled at the spontaneous act of kindness, it was unusual for Daphne, but the moment warranted it.

Harry got to his feet and cleared his throat.

“I feel the need to settle some of this myself. I know I’m not a Greengrass, I just married one, but when you’re on the outside it’s a lot easier to see what’s going on inside. You guys can’t see it because you’re right in the middle of it, but Daphne’s breakdown last week? That was on me. We have been going through some real difficulties, and I was far more at fault for that than she was. We went away for a few days, and we talked, but if we hadn’t done that…Astoria may not have been the only Greengrass filing for divorce this year.”

Daphne sighed and looked down.

“We _are_ going to fix things,” Harry said confidently, “But to do that, we need to drop some of our other obligations. We both take on far too much so I’m sorry Astoria, but I won’t be your figurehead anymore. I won’t miss my kids' bedtime just to sit at a board meeting and make you look good. If you genuinely need my expertise as an Auror or a seasoned member of the Wizengamot then, of course, I’ll be there, but I won’t be your poster boy anymore.”

Before Astoria had a chance to object, Harry turned to Cygnus.

“And Cygnus, I know you are a good man now, and I know that I didn’t know you before,” Harry said honestly, “But I do know what your actions had done to your daughter by the time I became close with her at school. When I met Daphne, she was a wreck because of you, and I spent the first year and a half of our relationship, fixing what you broke. I showed her that she could trust a man, and when we took Teddy in, I showed her that a father could be kind. She didn’t learn those things from you so with respect, you cannot expect to come into her life with a ‘new me’ attitude when she was a young adult and for all of that to be forgotten. You traumatised her and the fact she can even look at you now, let alone accept you as a father just shows how compassionate and accepting that she is.”

Cygnus looked torn between being offended and hurt.

“And Narcissa,” Harry said, turning to the older woman, “I think you and I can help each other.”

Narcissa frowned, “Excuse me?”

“We take on too much,” Harry said, gesturing between himself and Daphne, “But we both enjoy our jobs, and we need our work. Daphne wants to go back, she needs to be Daphne sometimes rather than just ‘Mum’, but we have a childcare problem. Neither of us wants a live-in tutor, but we do want our children to be cared for by family. I feel that the perfect choice for a tutor would be you, Narcissa.”

Narcissa’s eyes widened.

“You know everything there is to know about pureblood etiquette,” Harry explained, “But you have also seen the consequences first hand of what happens when that goes too far. You could teach the kids everything they need to know, but you could give them love at the same time. You look at Draco, and you see your failures - you see his insecurities and his trust issues, but I look at Draco, and I see how smart he is. I see a man who can answer every question thrown his way about blood purity, wizarding history, magical creatures, you name it. When a case is proving tough, Draco often has the answer before I need to go to the archives and that’s thanks to you.”

Narcissa smiled weakly.

“And that’s after he flunked lessons to play Quidditch and fell asleep in the library during tutoring,” Daphne added with an amused smile.

A chuckle escaped Narcissa’s lips.

“Yes, he wasn’t the most attentive student.”

“There is honestly no one that we would trust to teach our children more than you,” Harry said, meeting Narcissa’s eye, “You are one of the few people I know who came through both wars, and you were in the thick of it both times. You are part of an even more exclusive club – you defied Voldemort, right to his face. You lied to the most powerful dark wizard our country has ever seen because your love for your son was more powerful than your fear, and because of that, you remind me of _my_ mother. Draco might not appreciate you enough, but I do. I have the utmost respect for you.”

Narcissa swallowed a lump in her throat and smiled.

“It would be an honour, Harry. As long as it is something that you both want.”

Daphne nodded, “Harry’s right, Narcissa. There isn’t a better person for the job.”

Narcissa’s smile widened a little.

“Then, yes, I would love to be the children’s tutor.”

Cygnus cleared his throat.

“And _I’m_ sorry.”

Daphne looked over at her father.

“I am sorry for assuming that you could forget the past,” Cygnus confessed, “You are right. Your mother painted me as the villain, but I was no saint. I was an alcoholic, I did have a gambling problem, and it was my fault that the house caught fire with you two in it. It was naïve of me to assume you could forget about that.”

Daphne nodded, “Thank you, Dad.”

Astoria sighed and got to her feet, “And it looks like I need to find a new poster boy. Who else looks as good as you and has the political know-how to _help_ rather than _hinder_ my business, Harry?”

Harry raised an eyebrow at her, “I have no idea.”

“And pouting doesn’t suit you, honey,” Daphne said with a slight smile.

Astoria rolled her eyes, “You’re lucky I’m not pulling the plug on Greengrass Curse Breaking Limited.”

“Potter & Weasley Curse Breaking,” Daphne corrected.

“You can’t change the name; it says in the contract that ownership of the name belongs to Greengrass Industries,” Astoria smirked.

“Does it?” Daphne asked, leaning back and smirking, “Check the small print, darling.”

Astoria narrowed her eyes, “You didn’t.”

“I did. I changed the small print, and _you_ didn’t check before you signed,” Daphne said, her smirk becoming a grin, “Do you think we should make the sign scarlet and gold?”

“I’m going to bloody kill you,” Astoria muttered as she tried to hide a smile.

“It was about time that you got one over on your sister,” Cygnus said, a smile forming on his face too.

Narcissa chuckled, “This is far more like it. Would you all stay for supper?”

Harry glanced up at Daphne for her answer.

“Of course,” Daphne answered.

Astoria nodded too and smiled at Daphne.

“Why wait for the new year for fresh starts?”

Daphne sat down next to Harry and murmured, “That went better than expected.”

“Nice idea, turning the tables like that,” Harry whispered, “You being the hothead and me being the cold, calculating one.”

“Is it wrong that I kind of liked it?” Daphne whispered, her eyes sparkling playfully as they met Harry’s.

“No, because I did too,” Harry said, shooting her a boyish grin.

* * *

The Burrow was so busy on Sunday afternoon that Harry began to look forward to going back to work the following day. He needed to tell his family what had been going on with him and Daphne because he knew that they were worried, but he didn’t get a chance until everyone sat down for dinner.

“Sorry to interrupt, guys!” Harry said, looking around the table awkwardly, “But I know everyone has noticed that things have been a bit off with us lately. Daphne and I had a few days away, and everything is okay, but I am still an alcoholic. I relapsed recently, and I know most of you already know that, but I just wanted you to know that I’m seeing someone; I’m getting help.”

Daphne smiled and took his hand.

Harry took a breath and continued, “But I won’t drink alcohol at all anymore, so if you could all refrain from offering me drinks, that would be helpful.”

“Of course,” Molly said softly.

“And I hope you all understand why we have to do this,” Harry finished, “But from now on we’re only going to come to Sunday lunch once a month. Daphne and I have been splitting ourselves between our families on a Sunday, and it gives us barely any time for ourselves, so we need to fix it.”

Molly nodded, “Of course, we understand.”

“On that note,” Hermione said tentatively, “Draco and I have to start coming every second Sunday. We’ve also been splitting ourselves between our families, and it’s beginning to take a toll on us.”

Molly chuckled, “You all have your own lives. As much as we love seeing you every week, we understand that there are other people that you need to see. I am very proud of you, however, Harry. Knowing you have a problem and being brave enough to seek help is a difficult thing for any man, particularly one in a job like yours.”

Harry smiled weakly, “Thanks, Molly.”

Ron could tell that Harry was uncomfortable, so he cleared his throat.

“Right then, Draco. What did you make of that latest Arrows game? Good win, eh? They’ll be a middle team soon.”

“They are a middle team!” Draco objected, “Stop lumping them in with the Cannons!”

Ron shot Harry a grin and Harry mouthed a thank you in his direction.

* * *

Draco had promised Theo that he would talk to Bill at the Burrow that Sunday, but he had been hoping to catch the eldest Weasley alone. That had proven difficult because Bill had spent the last hour sitting in the corner of the living room with Daphne.

“Draco,” Hermione yawned, “We need to head home soon. Never mind the kids, _I’m_ getting tired.”

Draco sighed and said, “Two minutes, I need to talk to Bill.”

Hermione knew what it was about, and she was entirely on board with helping Theo stabilise his magic, so she just nodded.

“I’ll start rounding the kids up.”

Draco walked over to the duo and raised an eyebrow.

“Scheming, are we?”

“Planning,” Daphne retorted, looking up at Draco, “Scheming was your thing, wasn’t it? Even if you were terrible at it.”

Bill snorted at that comment.

Draco rolled his eyes, “Bill, could we have a word?”

“Sure,” Bill said, motioning to the armchair across from them, “Take a seat.”

“I meant in private,” Draco said, eyeing Daphne.

Daphne raised an eyebrow, “Why?”

“Because there are some things I don’t want _you_ to be privy to,” Draco said dryly.

Daphne leant back in her chair.

“Interesting. I might as well stay though because Bill will tell me anyway.”

Draco eyed her suspiciously, “I sincerely doubt that.”

“Seriously, he’s a worse gossip than Harry,” Daphne remarked.

“I’m right here,” Bill reminded her.

“I know,” Daphne smirked.

Draco snorted, “Come on; I think you and I both know that no one can be a bigger gossip than Harry,” he said as he sat down opposite them.

Daphne just smirked, “So, what do you need to talk to Bill about?”

Draco resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he turned to Bill.

“I need you to teach Theo and I how to control magic sharing.”

“Nope,” Bill said, straight away.

Draco frowned, “Why? _You_ can do it.”

“That doesn’t mean I can teach you to do it,” Bill quipped.

“But you taught Daphne how to do it,” Draco pointed out.

“I didn’t teach Daphne how to do it,” Bill admitted, “I just taught her how to accept me intruding into her magical core so I could borrow some of her magic. It’s not good magic sharing, that’s a complicated thing to teach anyone.”

“But you can do it,” Daphne cut in, “You taught Harry and me how to control it.”

“Yeah, that’s different though,” Bill said with a wave of his hand, “I can teach people who have accidentally shared magic before because there is already an established mental link there.”

“So you can do it then,” Draco said, making Bill look up in surprise.

“Theo and I have done it accidentally in the past,” Draco explained.

Daphne looked at Draco, knowingly.

“Uh-huh? When?”

“The night of the thunderstorm,” Draco answered, purposefully not meeting her eyes.

“Hmm,” Daphne smirked, “What _really_ happened that night, Draco?”

“Not what you’re thinking,” Draco remarked, “And for the record, this is why I didn’t want you to be here. Bill is far less judgemental than you.”

“That’s true,” Bill grinned, shooting Daphne an amused look, “You’re very judgemental.”

Daphne made a face, “Are you going to teach them how to do it?”

“Maybe,” Bill answered, turning back to Draco, “Why do you want to do it?”

“To fix Theo’s magical core,” Draco said honestly, “It was gradually restoring itself then it just stopped. We knew it was a risk because of how much magic Lucia had drained. We knew he wouldn’t get all of it back but what we didn’t expect was for it to make his magical core unstable.”

“Ah,” Bill realised with a nod, “So you want to give him a boost with your magic to stabilise his? Yeah, that’ll work.”

“Yeah?” Draco asked, hopefully.

Bill looked up thoughtfully, “How good are you two at legilimency? That was why it was so easy to teach Daphne and Harry.”

“We’re both pretty good,” Draco confessed, “And we already have a telepathic link so that should help, right?”

“Yeah,” Bill said with a nod, “I’ll come over one night next week, and we’ll see what we can do.”

Draco breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thanks, Bill.”

“Draco!” Hermione called from the hall, “Are you ready?”

Draco turned back to Bill and Daphne.

“Thanks again, see you next week,” he said before sweeping out of the room.

Bill turned to Daphne, “Magic sharing and a telepathic link? Those two are close, huh?”

“Yep,” Daphne replied, “After the war when Draco was trying to get in my pants again, Theo kept suggesting a three-way and I was never sure whether it was because he was into Draco or me more.”

Bill snorted in amusement, “What happened on the night of the thunderstorm?”

“I thought it was just some making out, but after what he just said, who knows?” Daphne said with a mischievous grin. She snapped the notepad that they had been pouring over shut and got to her feet, “Are we still on for the site visit tomorrow?”

“Yeah, but don’t get excited about it,” Bill warned, “That place is a mushroom factory. The mould is the first issue we’ll have to face before we can even think about all of your fancy renovation ideas.”

“My ideas aren’t that fancy,” Daphne argued.

“You want a mezzanine office,” Bill pointed out.

“You have a mezzanine floor in your workshop,” Lara said as she wrapped her arms around Bills shoulders from behind.

“Exactly – William Weasley, you hypocrite,” Daphne teased.

Bill chuckled, “You can get your mezzanine floor once we can get in the building without waterproof boots and bubblehead charms to avoid us breathing in dangerous spores. Deal?”

“Deal,” Daphne said with a grin, “Pleasure doing business with you!”

* * *

“I got nominated!”

Theo made a face, “Oh, sweet Salazar, my eardrums can’t take it!”

Hermione jumped up excitedly and waved a piece of parchment in the air, “But Theo, I got nominated, I can run for the Wizengamot!”

Draco smiled, “Congratulations, love. You deserve it.”

“Who else got nominated?” Sadie asked curiously.

Hermione was still beaming as she looked down the list which was in alphabetical order, “Draco, you did, and Neville did of course. Harry, I mean of course he did.”

Her finger traced down further.

“Uh but…Theo, you didn’t.”

Theo shrugged, “I don’t really give a shit about politics anymore, Mione-”

“Language, Theodore!” Sadie snapped as Almina and Charlus giggled.

“Sorry,” Theo said sheepishly, “Uh, yeah so as I was saying. I don’t care for politics as much as I used to.”

“Better,” Sadie said, hiding an amused smile as she turned around to get Elladora a cup of milk.

Theo turned back to Hermione.

“The world is a far better place than it was when we left school and now people like you are going to make it even better.”

“You think I’m going to make the world a better place?” Hermione asked tearfully.

“Of course you are,” Theo said softly.

Draco rolled his eyes in Sadie’s direction as Hermione launched herself at Theo and hugged him tightly.

Draco moved around the kitchen and leant against the sink. He looked sideways at Sadie and whispered, “How much do you reckon you get roped into being her campaign manager?”

“Don’t tempt her,” Sadie muttered back, “I don’t think our friendship could withstand it.”

Draco snorted, “She wouldn’t be that bad unless she didn’t get in…”

“Yeah, exactly,” Sadie said under her breath, “Never mix friendship and politics, Draco. It’s not a good idea.”

“What if I get in and she doesn’t?” Draco whispered, “Do you think our relationship would last?”

“No, I think you would mysteriously disappear,” Sadie said, shooting him a wicked grin, “And we would never find the pieces.”

Draco smiled in amusement and Sadie slipped out of the kitchen before Hermione could start talking about campaign strategies.

“I’ll need a plan of course, and a campaign manager,” Hermione was saying excitedly.

“I’ll be your campaign manager,” Theo chipped in.

Draco and Hermione both looked at Theo in surprise.

“What?” Theo asked, looking between them.

“You would really offer to do that?” Hermione asked with a slight smile.

“Yeah, Theo, _you_ would really offer to do that?” Draco asked, raising an eyebrow at his best friend, “You traitor.”

Theo snorted, “You’re a hotshot Auror with Harry Potter on your arm – don’t worry Drakey, you’re going to get in.”

“So you’re saying I need help more than he does?” Hermione quipped.

Draco smirked and leant back to watch this unfold.

“No,” Theo backtracked, “No, Mione. I’m not saying that.”

“What _are_ you saying then?” Hermione asked furiously.

Theo grimaced, “Just that you _have_ been out of the spotlight for a little while. I mean you have far greater appeal than Draco, that goes without saying-”

“Gee, thanks,” Draco muttered, wishing Sadie was here to provide back-up or at least so he had someone to laugh at Theo’s incompetence with.

“- Draco, you don’t have a chocolate frog card so with all due respect, shut up,” Theo retorted.

Draco rolled his eyes and pouted, but Theo ignored him and turned back to Hermione.

“You’re a war heroine; you’re the reason Harry Potter survived long enough to end the war, so I mean, you’re a huge celebrity. What you’ve done for the wizarding world since then gives you great appeal to anyone liberal, but the traditionalists won’t vote for you. That’s the advantage Draco has; he’s a former Malfoy who is making the Black name great again, so the traditionalists love him, but with a muggle-born wife, he has the liberals on side too.”

Hermione crossed her arms over her chest, and Draco shook his head and projected a thought towards Theo, _Really digging yourself deeper into that hole, aren’t you?_

Theo glared at Draco over Hermione’s shoulder, and Draco smirked in response.

“So I need you to help me appeal to purebloods, is that what you’re saying?” Hermione asked irritably, “You think after being married to one for nearly six years, I haven’t learned a thing or two? You think _living_ with three of you hasn’t influenced me? I can appeal to purebloods just fine by myself thank you very much so you can take your offer and shove it up your-”

Hermione remembered that the kids were still in the kitchen, so she amended what she had been about to say, “- bottom. I’ll find someone who shares my more liberal views to be my campaign manager, thank you very much!”

Before Theo could argue any further, Hermione stormed out of the kitchen.

“Nicely done,” Draco remarked.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Theo said as he picked up the copy of the Daily Prophet that Hermione had been reading.

“You don’t want to be her campaign manager so you just made sure that there was no way in a million years she would ask you,” Draco said, smirking in amusement, “Well played. Until of course, she talks your wife into being the campaign manager, and I tell Sadie about what you just did. Then maybe you won’t be feeling so smug.”

“You’re a dick,” Theo muttered under his breath.

“Language, Theodore,” Draco teased in a poor imitation of Sadie.

Theo opened his mouth to spit an insult at Draco, but then he spotted something strange in the paper. The insult fell from his lips and a frown formed on his brow, “Draco, have you had any luck with that vampire case?”

“No, I told you, it’s a nightmare,” Draco replied, “Vampires don’t have any DNA to leave evidence, and the coven will be protecting the vampire so well that even if we did know who they were, there’s no way we could get to them.”

Theo nodded, “Well, is it a coincidence that while that’s still unresolved, this happens?”

He turned the paper around and pointed to a small article, tucked away in the middle pages. It wasn’t headline news and it probably never would have been but the big announcement this Monday had been about the Wizengamot.

**_“7-YEAR-OLD MUGGLE CRITICALLY INJURED IN WEREWOLF ATTACK.”_ **

****

Draco’s frown deepened, “But the full moon isn’t for another two weeks.”

Theo shook his head, “It happened on the last full moon, but this is the first of it coming to light. It was probably classed as an animal attack at first so it wouldn’t have drawn any attention from the wizarding world until the radar went off in the DRCMC telling them that another unregistered werewolf had appeared.”

“So a werewolf attacks a muggle which hasn’t happened since when? The war?”

“I don’t know, you’ll have to check the records,” Theo confessed, “There might have been a few cases in the years since the war. It’s common for new wolves to go off the rails after the first few months.”

Draco sighed, “In rural locations though, not in the middle of London.”

“Poplar, to be specific,” Theo said, his eyes on the article.

“Rogue werewolf attacks and vampire attacks, both rare and both have happened within the last month,” Draco said, a frown forming on his brow.

“I know,” Theo said, looking down at the paper, “What next, a dragon attack?”

“Don’t joke about that,” Draco said darkly, “You and I both trained for them in Auror training, and I can safely say that I never want to attend that scene.”

Theo nodded his agreement, “Do you think something is making magical creatures turn? Tuning their humanity out?”

“No, it can’t be,” Draco said, frowning at the paper, “How could anything do that?”

“I don’t know,” Theo admitted, “But I’ll look into it. I’ll see if there has ever been a resurgence in attacks like this before and if there has been, I’ll see if I can work out the cause.”

“Thanks, Theo,” Draco said as he pushed himself to his feet, “I’m going to head into work early and have a chat with John about all of this before Harry comes back.”

“Alright, good luck with it,” Theo called after him.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	46. They Remind Me, I Survived

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry goes back to work to start a whole new chapter in his career...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:  
> Crash and Burn by Lifehouse.

Before Harry was even allowed in the main department, he had to meet with Caroline. He felt fresher and happier than he had in a long time when he rocked up with Starbucks that morning.

“Starbucks, huh?” Caroline asked, accepting the cardboard cup, “Is that a bribe to get me to sign you off early?”

“No,” Harry chuckled, “It’s a thank you. I don’t want to be signed off until you think I’m ready for that and there’s no rush. My part-time hours are staying that way for the next two weeks so if that’s how long I need to abstain from fieldwork, then that’s your call.”

Caroline leant back in her chair to survey him.

“That’s very mature of you.”

Harry shrugged, “What can I say? I went away for a retreat with my wife, and I found myself.”

“You say that in jest, but there’s a degree of truth in it,” Caroline noticed.

“There is,” Harry agreed, “I lost myself in my work, and Daphne lost herself in her role as the kids' mother. We lost sight of who we are, but it’s under control now. We’re getting things back on track, and there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, everything is going to be okay.”

Caroline smiled, “So the blip is over?”

“Yeah,” Harry said with a nod, “The blip is over, but the struggle isn’t. I’m still an alcoholic, Caroline.”

“You are,” Caroline agreed, “But we managed to bring that under control once before, and we can again.”

Harry raised his cardboard coffee cup.

“Cheers to that.”

Caroline laughed and raised hers in response.

* * *

When Harry walked back into the department, his colleagues greeted him like a hero who had just returned having had a life-changing injury. He suspected that most of the Aurors close to him had a suspicion about what had happened. Sorenson hi-fived him, and Percy patted him on the back and welcomed him back.

Blanche immediately hugged him, and Ophelia said it was good to have him back. He got a sympathetic smile from Oliver Wood, who said he looked better than he had for a while. All in all, by the time Harry reached the Homicide Office, he was feeling pretty appreciated.

“Good morning,” He said when he slipped inside.

“You’re back!” Jason said, grinning in Harry’s direction.

“I’m back,” Harry agreed, “How are things?”

“Busy,” Terry replied, “The baffling vampire attack has kept us that way.”

Harry frowned, “Vampire attack? But there hasn’t been one of them since-”

“1997 – get with the programme, Potter,” Draco drawled when he stepped into the room.

Harry grinned at him.

“Do you know what? I kind of missed you this week.”

Draco shot him an amused look.

“There’s a first time for everything, I suppose.”

Harry chuckled, “Seriously though, you’ve been dealing with a vampire attack?”

Draco nodded and threw him the file.

“John wants to do a return to work with you in his office, but before you go, read that. We’ve hit a wall, and I could use your input.”

Harry scanned the file. He flicked through the photographs of the crime scene, and read the coroners report; then he looked up at Draco.

“Well, we’re not going to catch her.”

“Her?” Draco asked sharply, “We’ve been assuming it’s a male.”

“Why?” Harry asked curiously.

“Because it looks like this girl was the vampires familiar,” Draco said with a frown, “Vampires have sexual relationships with their familiars.”

“Uh-huh,” Harry agreed, “Did you read this part of the coroner's report?”

Draco looked at where he was pointing, right in the bottom corner.

“She was a virgin,” Draco said.

“Exactly so if she was a familiar and I think you’re right – she was,” Harry said, “Then she was the familiar of a female vampire. It happens, sometimes female vampires want female familiars for the companionship more than for the sex. I mean, I’m not going to get into it, but they might well have been intimate anyway, just without the penetrating aspect.”

Draco made a face, “Never say that again.”

“What, penetrating?” Harry smirked.

Terry and Jason sniggered at how uncomfortable Draco was about that word.

“Oh, you really don’t like it, do you?” Harry asked with a grin, “Do you hate it more than _moist_?”

Draco grimaced, “Do you want to fuck off for another week?”

“Nah,” Harry said with a snort, “But as I was saying, we won’t catch her. I very much doubt she’s a singular vampire; she will be part of a coven which means that there will be the vampire who turned her protecting her and then the vampire who turned them protecting them both. We can’t touch her, and if I’m honest Draco, this girl knew exactly what she was getting into when she became a vampires familiar. It’s hardly a risk-free relationship, is it?”

“No, but I never expected you to say that,” Draco admitted.

Harry shrugged, “I’d focus more on the weird werewolf attack that was reported in the prophet this morning if I were you. The reporter who wrote the article was called Jenna Sanders, start with her – find out how she found out about the attack and see what you can work out.”

“That’s not our division,” Draco reminded Harry, “We’d be stepping on the toes of the DRCMC people.”

“So work with them then,” Harry said with a shrug, “Ask Wayne Hopkins to consult with you on the case. You guys are close, aren’t you? Didn’t you make out with him in a broom cupboard at school one time?”

Ben grinned, “That explains your overly friendly attitude towards him last week.”

Draco rolled his eyes and glared at Harry, “Get your arse to Shep's office, you insufferable pain.”

Harry smirked, “Gladly,” he said, slipping out of the office.

“Did you really make out with Wayne?” Owen snorted.

“No, but I can’t have Harry Potter finding out the real reason I was in a broom cupboard with him,” Draco said, sitting down behind his desk.

“What’s worse than making out with a Hufflepuff?” Ben asked.

“Oi!” Owen objected.

Ben grinned at him in response.

“Wayne was part of Harry’s little secret society,” Draco explained, “Dumbledore’s Army, that’s what they called themselves. I was supposed to be fighting against them for Umbridge, but I was getting Wayne to feed information back to Harry to protect them, I didn’t want them to get caught.”

“So you’d rather Harry thought you were snogging a Hufflepuff than being a nice guy who was trying to help him?” Jason asked, raising an eyebrow at his boss.

“Exactly. I’m glad that we all understand each other,” Draco said matter of factly, “Now come on, back to work. We need to track down this reporter…”

* * *

When Harry walked into John’s office, the Head Auror smiled sympathetically at him and asked him to take a seat. They went through the motions – John asked Harry how he was. Harry told John that he was doing much better. John asked how Daphne and the kids were. Harry said they were fine etc. After five minutes of this back and forth, John got to the point.

“So, you’re part-time for the next couple of weeks, and as it currently stands, Caroline hasn’t signed you off for active duty,” John said. He leant back in his chair to survey Harry.

“Correct,” Harry said.

“You probably think you’re getting saddled with desk duty and you are, in a way,” John admitted, “It came to my attention not that long ago that I threw you into this job at the deep end. I haven’t taught you how to do it, and that’s on me, not you. Assistant Head Auror is more than a title, it’s a role, and I’m going to teach you how to do it. So, you can consider the next two weeks as training.”

Harry smiled slightly, “Okay.”

“Now, this is the way that I have always viewed our roles,” John explained, “As Head Auror, I manage the department, and as Assistant Head, you manage the people. I go to the inter-department meetings; I deal with the shitty budget that the Minister hands us. I make sure that the bank pays everyone when they are supposed to.”

Harry nodded.

“You keep the workforce happy,” John said, “If someone wants to put a holiday request in, it should go to you. You should log employee sickness, not me. You should manage the overtime roster and the overnight and arson duty rotas.”

“I can do that,” Harry said, “I mean, I’m pretty sure I already do most of that anyway.”

“Do you?” John asked in surprise.

Harry nodded, “I rejigged the arson duty rota when I took over - I posted it on the employee board. It’s the same every month, and if someone wants out of it, they need to put a holiday request in. I handed the overnight duty rota over to Rachel in admin, she already knows everyone’s availability, and she can whip up a rota faster than I can make a coffee. As far as holiday requests go, I haven’t had any since I took over apart from my own which had to go through you. What was the other thing you mentioned?”

“Employee sickness,” John said with an amused smile.

“Oh yeah,” Harry said, “I twigged the system a little to cover that one. We aren’t allowed to come into the department unless we get our wand checked, so I had Theo put a calendar up in my office. All of the Aurors names are up there, and a tick appears next to their name when they check-in, then another tick appears when they check their wand out. It’s a bit spy-ey, I suppose, but it works. I’ve already had to tell Oliver off at least three times for apparating home without checking his wand out, but he’s got a six-month-old, and he’s sleep-deprived, so I haven’t been giving him too much of a hard time over it.”

John chuckled, “Alright, so you’ve already been doing the job. You know what you’re going to be doing for the next two weeks then, don’t you?”

“I’m going to take a wild guess and say employee appraisals?” Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well done, Harry,” John said sarcastically.

Harry snorted, “Do I need to do every Auror in the department?”

“Yep.”

“Even my team?” Harry questioned.

“If you feel uncomfortable appraising your own team, then I can do it,” John answered.

Harry grinned, “Nope, I’m fine with that,” he said as he got to his feet and walked over to the filing cabinet.

John watched him do so then sighed.

“And Harry, I’m sorry.”

“Why are _you_ sorry?” Harry asked, pulling open one of the drawers and hauling out the first few employee files.

“Because I think I’m a large part of the reason that you had a breakdown,” John confessed, “It’s my fault that you got buried in work.”

Harry scoffed, “Don’t be stupid, Shep-”

John shook his head, “You’ve been doing the job, and I didn’t even realise it. If I hadn’t thrown you in with no training, you wouldn’t have had such a huge workload.”

“Yes, I would have,” Harry said simply, “And you don’t get to feel bad for throwing me in at the deep end. You got thrown in at the deep end too; we all struggled to adapt to life without Jack, and it wasn’t like it was just that we were dealing with. We had multiple injured Aurors, we had to rejig all of the departments, several of us had to learn to work with new partners, and we had a serial killer on our hands. All in, I think we’ve done pretty well.”

“Yeah,” John agreed with a slight smile, “I suppose we have.”

Harry smiled back, “Right, well if you’re done with me I’ll get started on these appraisals. Am I allowed to fire anyone?”

“Not without my permission,” John replied, “Whose up first?”

“Euan Abercrombie and Stewart Ackerley,” Harry said with a wide grin.

John raised an eyebrow, “Don’t fire anyone and don’t give the Juniors too much of a hard time; they’re kids.”

“I won’t,” Harry promised.

* * *

Harry set himself an aim to get four appraisals done each day. He was only working half-days for the following two weeks, so even if the final appraisal ran over, he would get home not long after lunch-time. That gave Daphne plenty of time to work on the premises for P&W Curse Breaking as Charlie had nicknamed it.

It amused him that the first appraisal was with Euan Abercrombie who had stepped on his toes and gotten on the wrong side on him on his first day on the job, but as John had asked of him – he wasn’t too hard on him. Despite his irritating habits, he was still a kid.

Harry took a coffee break after the first couple of appraisals and ended up gossiping with his old mentor, Aiden Ford, by the machine as he did so.

“How go the appraisals, boss?” Aiden asked casually.

“Ah, not as bad as you’d expect,” Harry said with a shrug, “I’ve done your two Juniors. How come you didn’t provide the secondary comments for them? I noticed that Oliver did both.”

Aiden shrugged, “I like the job, but Oliver’s the better people person. How did they both get on?”

“As well as can be expected considering they’ve only been in the job a few months,” Harry admitted, “Stewart did better than Euan.”

“That’s because Euan’s an idiot,” Aiden muttered under his breath.

“Oliver said he tended to act a bit too much like a lad and join in with the banter when he should be working,” Harry said, grinning at Aiden, “So I’m guessing that’s why Oliver did the paperwork?”

Aiden smirked, “Yep. I like Stewart though; he’s a good kid – just a bit nervous.”

“Also what Oliver said and what I picked up on in his appraisal,” Harry said, suppressing a yawn, “I’ve got Travis from Arson in next, and that’s going to be a nice, easy one. He’s a brilliant Auror; nobody has a bad word to say about him.”

“Yeah, he’s a good lad, Travis,” Aiden agreed, “Is that you done for the day after you see Travis?”

“Nah, I’ll finish up with Draco,” Harry said, glancing at the door of the Homicide Office, “He’s nervous about his appraisal, I don’t know why because he’s bloody brilliant.”

Aiden nodded thoughtfully, “Never had the same amount of confidence as the likes of you though, has he? He’s quietly confident, but you’re right, he’s a brilliant Auror.”

“He’s never felt like he belongs here because everyone viewed him as a Malfoy in spirit if not in name from the moment they saw him,” Harry confessed, “But he’s made his name as a Black and he deserves to be here. He’s worked damn hard to get where he is, and it shows.”

Aiden elbowed Harry jokingly, “Tell him that in his appraisal, it might give him the confidence boost you think he needs.”

Harry nodded thoughtfully, “Yeah…good idea, Aiden,” he said as the other Auror headed back to the Vice office.

* * *

Draco was in the middle of his lunch when Harry called him in for his appraisal. He was in Theo’s cupboard because, as everyone knew, it was where he spent his lunch most days.

They were talking about how Bill was going to come over the following evening to teach them about magic sharing when a knock sounded on the door.

“Come in,” Theo called.

The door opened, and Harry smiled in amusement.

“You’ve made yourself comfortable,” He said to Draco.

Draco shrugged, “It’s Theo’s office, so it’s basically my second home.”

Theo nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, that’s true. You here to check up on me, boss?”

Harry snorted, “Not today, Theo. Your appraisal is scheduled for Friday.”

Theo choked on his coffee.

“I have to get one too?”

Draco smirked, “Looks like it.”

“But I’m not an Auror!” Theo objected.

“You still work for the department,” Harry said with a smug grin, “Draco, you’re up. You’re my last appraisal for the day then I get to head home.”

“Part-timer,” Theo joked.

“Hey, I am going to enjoy it while it lasts,” Harry said honestly.

Theo smiled, “You should,” he said sincerely, “Enjoy your kids while they are still small and cute. Before you know it they’ll be at school, and you’ll be spending your weekends in greenhouses with them asking you a million questions.”

Harry smiled sympathetically, “You really want another one, don’t you mate?”

Theo shrugged, “Just isn’t meant to be. I’ve got Ella and Cas too so I can’t complain too much.”

Draco patted Theo on the shoulder as he got to his feet, “You sure it’s not worth going into St. Mungo’s to consider your options?”

Theo shook his head, “Nah, Sadie hasn’t got a womb, so we don’t have many options. It’s adoption or nothing, and she’s not keen on that. After all we’ve been through, I just want her to be happy.”

“I think that’s all we all want,” Harry admitted, “For the women we love to be happy.”

“Unless you’re Draco,” Theo said with a grin.

Harry snorted, “Admit it; you two have always gotten off on the conflict.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Draco said smoothly.

Theo snickered, “She punched you in third year, and it turned you on.”

“It didn’t turn me on; it made me respect her,” Draco corrected.

Harry shook his head in amusement.

“We all remember eighth year, Draco. Quit denying it and get your arse into my office.”

“Ooh, he’s getting demanding now Draco,” Theo joked, “Best do what he says.”

Draco rolled his eyes and got to his feet.

“Reply to Bill’s owl, tell him tomorrow night is fine.”

“Will do. Have fun!” Theo called as Draco shut the cupboard door in his face.

“Bill?” Harry asked curiously.

“Yeah, he’s helping us with a thing,” Draco said evasively.

Harry raised an eyebrow at his Auror partner as they walked towards his office.

“Is this the magic sharing thing?”

“Of course – Daphne told you,” Draco said irritably.

“Yes, she did, but it’s a good idea,” Harry admitted, “And if it works then who gives a shit if you and Theo can do magic sharing? It just means there’s an intense connection between you two, and we’ve all been taking the piss out of you for seven years for that.”

“You really know how to cheer a guy up, Potter,” Draco said with a slight smile as they stepped into the office.

Harry shut the door behind him and sat down.

“Sit down, get comfy. You know what these are like, they take at least half an hour if you do them right.”

Draco sat down and leant back in his chair.

“We’re veterans, Harry. It’s not going to take half an hour.”

Harry ignored his comment and looked down at the appraisal form in front of him.

“Looking at that, I would agree with you.”

He slid the sheet over, and Draco smiled proudly when he looked down at it.

Harry smiled too, “You’re doing great, Draco. You’re exceeding standards for everything – job knowledge, quality of work, productivity, dependability, attendance, relations with others.”

Draco nodded and looked up at Harry.

“And the new one for you – supervisory ability,” Harry said, “You’re doing great. You’ve taken a shine to Ben, probably because he was a Slytherin and you see a bit of yourself in him.”

“That’s true,” Draco agreed.

“It would be nice if you showed the same interest in Owen,” Harry confessed, “But I can’t question your leadership. You’re doing a great job of showing Ben the ropes, and you’ve been running the Homicide department while my I’ve had my head shoved up my arse.”

Draco smirked at Harry’s description.

“As I wrote in my overall appraisal comments down here,” Harry said, motioning to the bottom of the sheet, “You’re a fantastic Auror, and you have proven that across every department that you have worked in. You helped turn CPS into a department to be proud of, a ground-breaking department that got us recognition across Europe, might I add?”

Draco nodded thoughtfully.

“You did brilliantly with Vice,” Harry continued, “You and Theo were the dream team, and I don’t think anyone is going to equal the arrest record you two hit last year. You brought black markets, and illegal duelling rings under control with your ‘cut off the head, and the rest will follow’ tactic. I know Neville and I always teased you for wearing sunglasses and blowing things up, but you and Theo were a perfect team when you worked Vice. I honestly wasn’t sure how you would do with the move to Homicide, but you’ve impressed me.”

“Have I?” Draco asked in surprise.

Harry chuckled, “Don’t look so surprised, I’m serious. You’re carving out a path for yourself in Homicide, and that’s the kind of path that will lead to Assistant Head and then Head Auror if that’s what you want.”

Draco raised an eyebrow, “ _If_ that’s what I want?”

“I know it’s what you want,” Harry said with an amused smile, “But I’m talking as your supervisor, not your friend, right now. You had a solid start with Homicide - being key in the arrest of Lucia was a huge step forward for your career. I’ve stated that I think you’ll go far in the department and John obviously thinks so too.”

“John was the secondary supervisor for my appraisal?” Draco asked in disbelief, his eyes falling on the next box on the form.

“It had to be him because I’m your direct superior and I couldn’t do the appraisal _and_ be the secondary,” Harry said pointedly, “So you’re the only Auror in the department who has been appraised by both the Head and the Assistant Head Auror.”

“Well, isn’t that an honour,” Draco said sarcastically, “What did John say?”

Harry pulled the form towards him and read aloud

“ _Draco has proven time and time again that he is an excellent Auror and that he deserves to be here. His arrest record is outstanding as is his attendance record. His commitment to the job is unquestionable and admirable, considering that he has two young children. When the Assistant Head Auror job was recently available, I would have recommended Draco to go head to head with Harry for the job. Had I done so, it would have been a fair fight - I expect to see excellent career progression from Draco in the coming years.”_

Draco didn’t smirk or grin smugly after Harry had read John’s words to him. Instead, he smiled and looked genuinely grateful.

“Well, that _is_ flattering.”

Harry nodded and tapped his quill against the form.

“So the last part is on you. What are your personal goals for the next year?”

Draco leant back and thought about this for a moment.

“I think I need a better work-life balance. I can’t rely on Theo to drag me home anymore. _I_ need to learn when to stop.”

Harry nodded, “I wholeheartedly agree with you on that one,” he said as he scribbled that information down, “I’m pretty sure that I know the answer to this one but what are your future aspirations?”

“To go as far as I can,” Draco confessed.

Harry chuckled and wrote this down then he put his quill down and leant back in his chair.

“We’re off the record now so how far is that exactly? Do you mean Head Auror? Head of the DMLE?”

“As far as I can go,” Draco said cryptically.

Harry smiled slightly and nodded, “Well, in that case, I want you to know that I will always support you. Anytime a promotion comes up, I’ll put your name forward for it if I genuinely believe you’re ready and if you do decide to go into the big leagues, I’ll have your back.”

Draco smiled back, “Thanks, Harry. I appreciate that.”

“What are partners for?” Harry returned with a shrug.

Draco bowed his head in agreement, “You got plans tonight?”

“Nope, why?” Harry asked.

“Minerva asked me to do the monthly exhibition duel at Hogwarts,” Draco said, eying Harry curiously, “I wondered if you wanted to come along and watch?”

Harry scoffed, “Watch? No way, if I’m coming along, then I’ll be duelling you.”

Draco raised an eyebrow at him, “Are you sure you’re up for that?”

“Up for beating you in front of a bunch of Slytherins?” Harry asked with a cheeky grin, “Always.”

Draco crossed his arms over his chest.

“You sound pretty confident about that. Are you sure you aren’t overcompensating?”

“I am definitely not overcompensating,” Harry smirked, “Mental breakdown or not, I could kick your arse in a duel any day. The way you’re talking about it though, it kind of sounds like you’re scared, Malfoy.”

Draco narrowed his eyes at his friend.

“You wish, Potter.”

“Aren’t you two meant to be doing a serious employee appraisal in there?” John’s voice called from the adjoining office.

“The appraisal is finished, Shep,” Harry called back, “We’re just reliving our school days now.”

“Well do it in your own time because I have actual work to do.”

Harry grinned at Draco.

“What time tonight?”

“7 pm at the gates of Hogwarts,” Draco said, holding out his hand.

Harry took it and shook it firmly.

“You’re on.”

* * *

Minerva McGonagall looked moderately nervous when she saw Draco walk into the great hall with Harry that evening. The students went wild of course, and Harry put on a smile and waved to them all, hi-fiving a couple that he walked past.

“Mr Potter, our new celebrity,” Draco teased under his breath in an impeccable impression of Snape.

“You sound scarily like him,” Harry said, shooting his Auror partner an amused look.

Minerva looked between the two men warily, “Mr Black, I believe I invited _you_ to give an exhibition duel.”

“I asked Harry if he wanted to come along to watch,” Draco explained, “On account of him having had a tough time of things lately.”

“But if you let me, I would rather duel,” Harry confessed, “And Draco and I can promise to keep it clean.”

Minerva raised an eyebrow at them, “You two can? I presume you understand why I find that hard to believe given your history in this castle.”

“Yes,” Harry admitted with a sheepish smile, “But that was a long time ago, Minerva. Not only are we friends now, but we’re also Auror partners. We can put on a good show without anyone getting hurt, I promise.”

Minerva bowed her head, “Very well. I do take your word very seriously, Harry. Do not let me down.”

“I won’t,” Harry promised.

Draco had to admit; he was quite impressed with the way Harry had just handled the Headmistress of the school. It was clear that they both had the utmost amount of respect for each other.

“Okay,” Harry said, “Clean duel. No curses, no violent hexes-”

“A schoolboy duel,” Draco cut in, “Fitting, don’t you think?”

Harry grinned, “Very. Shall we take to the stage?”

Draco held out his hand with a smile, “May the best Auror win.”

“I was going to go with may the best man win, but yours is better,” Harry chuckled as Draco climbed up onto the platform and strode to the other side.

Harry took his position too then he turned to the students, “Hi everyone. As I am sure you all know, I’m Harry Potter, the Assistant Head Auror and this is Draco Black, my Auror partner. This duel is not going to involve any dangerous spells, but it will show what you can achieve if you work hard and put your mind to something.”

Draco nodded, “Indeed. Becoming an Auror is no easy feat. It takes hard work at school and perseverance in Auror training,” he turned to Harry, “Shall we begin?”

Harry stepped forward in response. Draco took the hint, and they walked towards each other, raised their wands, bowed and then walked back to their places.

The duel was fast-paced from the get-go.

“ _Glacius_!”

“ _Incendio_!”

The fireball from Harry’s wand turned the beam of ice from Draco’s into water in seconds.

“ _Gelata Cerebri_!”

_“Protego! Cornu Lingua!”_

The spells that they were using were basic – a jelly brain hex to reduce the targets mental processes and a horn tongue hex, a schoolboy joke. But the students still watched agog at the speed the two Aurors were throwing the spells and the ease of the spellcasting.

It carried on this way for a while, and Harry genuinely began to wonder how he was going to trip Draco up. As they went on, they got bored, so they started throwing around unshieldable hexes to get their opponent moving.

After rolling across the duelling platform to avoid a scalping hex (Daphne would not have been happy if he went home bald), Harry realised that he was sweating profusely. Draco was by no means finding the duel easy, however.

_“Levicorpus_!”

Draco, having had past experience with this hex, knew that it was unshieldable, so he had to duck and slide across the platform to avoid it.

Usually, Harry would use a sneaky tactic to beat Draco because in truth, they were very closely matched when it came to duelling ability and it was the only way he could reliability beat the former Slytherin. However, on this occasion, he wanted to win fairly.

There was a pause in the duel - they both eyed each other, both assessing their tactics and wondering how best to defeat their opponent. There was a general intake of breath amongst the students as the hall fell silent.

“ _Stupefy!”_

“ _Expelliarmus_!”

The two beams of light met in the middle and formed into a large ball of blue and red energy. Harry shut his eyes and focused on pushing it towards Draco, but Draco was focusing on moving it towards him. This tactic wasn’t just about magical power (which Harry had a slight one up on Draco on), it was also about the ability to focus. Draco, who had always been better with Occlumency and Legilimency than Harry, definitely bested him on that front.

Harry could feel the ball of energy getting closer, and although he was pushing with everything he had, he couldn’t hold Draco off. He tried to throw up a shield charm before the combined spell hit him, and he half-managed. The spell protected him from Draco’s stunning charm, but his own disarming spell backfired on him, and his wand soared through the air.

Draco caught it deftly and smirked, “Fitting.”

“I guess now I know how Voldemort felt,” Harry said, “Getting defeated by your own spell sucks.”

The students all laughed at that. The Slytherins, in particular, cheered loudly for Draco - he smiled and said, “ _That_ is what hard work and perseverance can do for you. It can give you the ability to defeat anyone in a duel, even the man who defeated Lord Voldemort himself.”

“Fair play,” Harry said, shaking Draco’s hand, “Well fought, Draco.”

Draco smiled in response, and they spent some time sitting on the edge of the duelling platform, answering students questions after that. After half an hour, Minerva dismissed the students and thanked Harry and Draco for the show that they had put on.

Harry and Draco didn’t talk about it too much as they left the school which was pretty much empty of students now that it was getting close to curfew. Harry looked down the dungeon corridor and smiled, “Down that corridor - that’s where Daphne first spoke to me.”

Draco shot Harry an amused smile, “Down that corridor is where Daphne first kissed me.”

“We share way too many ‘Daphne’ memories in this school for my liking,” Harry said with a snort.

“And Hermione memories,” Draco mused. He turned around and looked at the steps leading into the entrance hall, “Those steps…that blue dress…”

“The moment you realised that you really didn’t hate her?” Harry guessed.

Draco shook his head, “The moment I admitted to myself that I had feelings for her. It was when I stopped telling myself that she was dirty because of her blood and let myself see her beauty. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I don’t just mean because she wore a pretty dress and strutted into that hall on the arm of a famous Quidditch player. It was when I started to let myself see her internal beauty.”

Harry leant against the wall and nodded thoughtfully, “I think I get that.”

“She sat there with Krum, teaching him how to say her name with all of the patience in the world,” Draco said, his eyes far away as he lost himself in the memory, “And I started to wonder if she had enough patience to hear me out. I knew she had enough compassion to forgive me, but I lacked the confidence to tell her that I thought she looked beautiful.”

“You were still scared of your father,” Harry said quietly, “And given what was happening that year, I don’t blame you.”

“It’s my last good memory of Hermione before the war,” Draco admitted, “At the end of that year, Voldemort came back and my life…my life went to shit, Harry.”

“I know,” Harry said softly.

Draco swallowed, “But when I think about the ‘before’ years, about the times when all I had to worry about was our stupid rivalry and trying to look cool to impress you…I can’t not see her coming down those stairs in that dress.”

Harry smiled, “I forget how much you love her sometimes, you know? You two bicker more than anyone else I know, and half the time you’re furious with each other about something stupid, but then I see what’s underneath all of that. You respect each other a hell of a lot, and you love each other even more.”

“She was my redemption,” Draco said honestly, “The better life I always wished for, the life I never thought I would get to have after the war…Hermione gave me that. I don’t think I will ever stop being amazed by the fact she wants to be with me. Sometimes I look at her smiling and laughing with Sadie, and I think, that’s my wife.”

Harry chuckled, “You look at her with the kids, and you think, that’s the mother of my children. _How did that happen?_ ”

“Yeah,” Draco admitted, “You too?”

“All of the time,” Harry said honestly, “I look at Daphne, and I wonder what the hell she ever wanted me for. She could have had her pick of rich, handsome purebloods but she fell in love with me – a shorter than average, specky half-blood.”

“And a Gryffindor, you forgot that part,” Draco joked.

Harry laughed, “I used to count my lucky stars every day, but then I got comfortable, and the moment I stopped doing that and started taking her for granted, I started to lose her. So here’s a little bit of advice for you, never take the miracle woman who changed your life for granted.”

“I don’t,” Draco promised, “Its why we’re not living in the castle right now. She needs electricity and modern heating to be happy, and it’s going to cost me a bloody fortune, but I’m doing it - I’d do anything to make her happy.”

Harry nodded, “I get that, but I do think we need to talk. Come on.”

Draco frowned and followed Harry into the grounds, “Talk about what?”

“Something I was forced to watch after I tried to-” Harry cut himself off and took a breath, “- after I tried to kill myself.”

“So that’s what it was?” Draco asked, his face paling, “A suicide attempt?”

“It wasn’t supposed to be,” Harry admitted, “But yes, I think it probably was.”

“Fuck,” Draco muttered, “And how are you feeling now? Are you okay?”

“I’m doing much better,” Harry promised, smiling at him, “But there’s a reason it’s going to be at least two weeks until I’m up for active duty.”

“Of course, I completely understand that,” Draco told him.

Harry sighed and paused by the lake. He looked over to the far shore and remembered the silver stag that had appeared there so many years ago.

“Caroline showed me what the future would look like if I had died that night,” Harry said, “And it was terrifying, Draco. She intended to show me how my actions affected those around me, and selfishly, I hadn’t been thinking about that.”

Draco frowned and sat down on a large rock, “What happened to Daphne?”

“She became cold,” Harry said, his eyes still on the far shore, “She closed herself off from everyone apart from Sadie and Theo. She ended up becoming the CEO of Greengrass Industries, and she remarried.”

“She remarried?” Draco asked in surprise, “Who?”

“Roger Davies,” Harry said distastefully, “He was the Head Auror.”

_“He_ was the Head Auror?” Draco asked in disbelief, “Who died to let him get the top job?”

“You did,” Harry replied, looking at his Auror partner.

Draco’s head snapped up, “What?”

“You blamed yourself for my death because you were the one who found my body,” Harry said quietly, “You fought with Neville about it, he blamed you for my death too. You two got into a duel, and he hurt his back, leaving him permanently paralysed.”

Draco’s eyes widened.

“Lilly left him, and he became an alcoholic,” Harry continued, “Lilly married Michael Corner, and her kids grew up calling him Dad with no idea who their real father was.”

“That is fucked up,” Draco said with a shake of his head.

“You threw yourself into your work,” Harry added, “You thought Hermione blamed you for my death, so you spent more time at work than you did at home. You also channelled all of your aggression into illegal duels. You were totally off the rails by the time you went after three criminals without back-up and got yourself killed.”

“What about Hermione?” Draco asked. He looked like he was dreading the answer, “Did she remarry?”

Harry shook his head, “No, she had a mental breakdown and got committed to the mental health ward of St. Mungo’s when Ella was three and Cas was one. Theo and Sadie raised them; they had to sell the castle because they couldn’t handle the upkeep on their income. They moved back to 12 Grimmauld Place and raised all four of the kids there.”

Draco frowned but didn’t say anything.

“They were the only ones who made it,” Harry said thoughtfully, “I suppose given what they came through this year, they can get through anything now.”

“I suppose so,” Draco said quietly.

“I didn’t want to tell you about it,” Harry admitted, “It was a fake future, a projection based on me killing myself that night but Daphne pointed out that some of the things from the fake future that she and Lilly saw in Paris still happened.”

“Like what?” Draco asked anxiously.

“Neville and Hannah couldn’t have kids then Neville and Lilly struggled to have kids,” Harry confessed, “If it hadn’t been for Lilly being a muggle-born and suggesting IVF then they probably wouldn’t have had kids either. There was also a big thing about an anti-pureblood rebellion and pureblood assassinations.”

“Lucia,” Draco realised.

“She would have gotten so much more powerful, if not for you,” Harry said, “That future that they saw, it was a vision of what the future might have been like if there hadn’t been an eighth year. Without an eighth year, you and Theo wouldn’t have become Aurors, and without you two as Aurors, we wouldn’t have caught her.”

Draco sighed and looked over at him, “So you’re telling me about what happened in the fake future to make sure it doesn’t happen for real?”

“Exactly,” Harry said, “I was happy that you said your personal goal was to get a better work-life balance because you need that – we both do.”

“It’s not just for Hermione and the kids,” Draco admitted, “It's for all of us. Hermione is going back to work soon, and then we’ll be leaving Sadie with four kids most days.”

“You need to ask someone to help with the kids,” Harry said, glancing sideways at Draco, “We asked your mother to tutor our kids.”

“I know you did,” Draco said, “And I know that she thinks I hate her, but I don’t. I love my mother, Harry, but I also resent her. She couldn’t protect me from my father and that…it left a mark on me. All I want is to ensure that _we_ raise our children – Hermione, me, Theo, Sadie – we’re a family and we all love all four of those kids unconditionally. I want them to know that blood status, sexuality, all of it; it doesn’t matter.”

“And to you, that means not allowing your mother or Cygnus to influence them,” Harry realised with a nod, “I get it.”

“Sadie’s mother offered to tutor the kids, but she wasn’t a fan of the idea either,” Draco said with a sigh, “Sadie and Sorenson get on well enough but ever since Septimus went to prison, Sadie and her mother have struggled.”

“When is he due to get out?” Harry asked with a frown.

“2009 officially,” Draco replied, “But Sorenson said that he could get out early on account of good behaviour.”

“He killed ten people!” Harry said in disbelief, “One of them was an Auror.”

“I know,” Draco said darkly, “And Sadie feels the same way, trust me. She wants nothing to do with her father when he gets out of prison.”

“I understand that,” Harry said. He looked up at the half-moon and asked, “What about Salvadora? She must be looking for things to occupy her time now that Lacey is at school.”

“She is, and I’m sure she would be honoured to look after the kids,” Draco confessed, “But Theo would need to swallow his pride for long enough to ask.”

Harry snorted, “Yeah, so that’s not happening then.”

“Exactly,” Draco said with a sigh, “But we’ll work it out. There are four of us, if we all need to cut our hours a bit, then that’s just what it’s going to have to take.”

Harry nodded, and they fell silent for a moment.

“How are you feeling about the magic sharing thing tomorrow?” Harry asked.

“Honestly? I’m nervous,” Draco admitted, “There’s a chance that it goes wrong, and I end up losing a bit of magic.”

“I doubt it will go wrong with Bill there to supervise,” Harry said, “But I understand your concern. It’s a big risk that you’re taking for Theo.”

Draco shrugged, “He’s my best friend, it’s worth the risk. His magical core being unstable…it’s a slippery slope. If he loses it once, he might lose his magic forever.”

“Yeah,” Harry said, thinking about Alastor, “Yeah, I get that.”

Draco pushed himself to his feet and cleared his throat, “Thanks for the duel tonight.”

“Your welcome,” Harry said as they began to walk down the path together towards the gates.

“You didn’t let me win, did you?” Draco asked.

Harry wondered if Draco had been thinking that. He shook his head, “No, I was trying really hard to beat you, but when it came down to mental focus? I was fucked.”

Draco laughed at that, “Yes, occlumency never was your strong point, was it?”

“No, and could you stop channelling Snape, please? You’re freaking me out,” Harry said distastefully.

Draco snorted in response to that, “Turn to page 394, Potter.”

“Seriously, stop it!”

“It really freaks you out, doesn’t it?” Draco asked with an amused grin, “I’ll have to keep that one in mind. Here was me thinking it was Neville who was scared shitless of Snape.”

“Oh, fuck you,” Harry muttered as they left the grounds of the castle together.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	47. My Scars, They Are Your Scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie's therapy continues, Harry becomes a part-time paper pusher and things finally start to look up for the Black-Notts after their year from hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:  
> Bleed Red by Ronnie Dunn.

“This is stupid.”

“This is what my therapist wants.”

Bill rolled his eyes and looked at the clock, “She’s late.”

“She works with traumatised Aurors. Her appointments are allowed to run over,” Charlie bit back, “Drink your coffee and shut up.”

“Move out of my house before my wife kills you,” Bill retorted.

“I’m trying!” Charlie muttered irritably, “But none of the places are right. They don’t have enough space for the special cargo.”

“Yeah, and if you don’t move your special cargo out of my back garden ASAP, my chances of knocking Lara up are going right down the toilet,” Bill growled in response.

“Calm down, Billy – full moons not for a couple of weeks.”

Bill shot his brother a glare that said what words couldn’t in a public place like this.

A whistle sounded from behind them, “Oh, we do have some issues to work out here, don’t we?”

Bill rolled his eyes again, “This isn’t couples therapy love, we’re brothers and-” he cut himself off when Caroline sat down in front of him.

She raised an eyebrow, “Do not call me love again, it is incredibly condescending, and I should not have to remind a man of your status of that, should I, William?”

Charlie grinned and leant back in his chair.

“Bill – meet Caroline.”

Bill shot Charlie a sideways look.

“You said she was moderately attractive.”

Charlie shrugged, “I lied.”

Caroline surveyed him, “I fail to see why my level of beauty is relevant.”

“Because he’s addicted to shagging young, pretty things like you,” Bill retorted, “And you’re giving him therapy, don’t you find that ironic?”

Caroline smirked, “Perhaps it’s the ultimate test.”

Bill shook his head in disbelief, “This is unreal. Why am I even here? Do you really think he’s got a complex about me?”

“I’m sure of it,” Caroline said calmly, “Charlie has a god complex, about you.”

Bill’s eyes widened, and he grinned.

“He’s got a god complex about me? Well, Char – I knew you admired me, but you think I’m a god, huh?”

Caroline rolled her eyes, “I have worked with some of the most famous Aurors to serve in the second wizarding war and by Merlin, none of them has your ego. No wonder Charlie is so cocky if you were his role model.”

Bill looked incredibly offended, and Charlie barked out a laugh.

“A God complex is not a good thing, William,” Caroline explained, “Your brother admires you, to the extent that he is making reckless decisions to try and be like you. The only way that will stop is if you tell him that he doesn’t need to.”

“Well, he doesn’t,” Bill frowned.

Caroline sighed, “No, it’s more than that. _Charlie_ needs to know that you love him and approve of his decisions. He needs you to tell him that he doesn’t need to be like you to be a good man.”

Bill looked at Charlie, a horrified expression on his face.

“You don’t think that, do you?”

Charlie shrugged, “When have you ever approved of my decisions?”

Bill scoffed, “I don’t disagree with your decisions! How could I judge you for your lifestyle? I was just like you before I met Fleur – I fancied myself as an Indiana Jones, I broke up relationships, I slept with people I shouldn’t have slept with. You know that, you were as involved in that fling with Belinda Zabini as I was.”

Caroline raised a curious eyebrow at that.

“But the difference was, I grew up,” Bill said, “I changed. I met Fleur, I got married, I had a kid, and I came home.”

“You did what Mum wanted and look at how that turned out for you,” Charlie remarked, “You divorced Fleur within two years, you share custody of that grandbaby that you gave Mum and for what? Our baby brother and our baby sister had babies within days of each other the _same year_ , Bill!”

“I know that!” Bill snapped, “But I don’t regret marrying Fleur because it gave me Victoire. Yes, it didn’t work out, but it changed me, Charlie - it changed my perspective. If I hadn’t met Fleur, I’d still be that egotistical idiot! I’d probably have slept with Daphne and broke up her and Harry’s marriage because that’s the kind of person I was back then.”

“And you think that’s the kind of person I am now?” Charlie asked furiously, “Because I didn’t break up my marriage, I didn’t cheat on Astoria, she just fucking gave up!”

“I think you both gave up, Charlie,” Bill said with a shake of his head, “You got married, and you were going to have kids, you moved into that big house, started teaching her about dragons then all of a sudden she’s spending more time stateside than she is with you. Something had to happen to cause that.”

“Yeah, and do you know what? I wish I knew what!” Charlie snapped, “She turned 22, we had big plans for her birthday. I’d reserved a table at one of those stupid fancy restaurants she likes – you know, the ones I hate because they serve you a bit of fucking jelly and expect you to be impressed with it? But she stood me up, and then I barely saw her all year so if anyone fucked it up if anyone cheated – it was her, Bill!”

“Easy boys,” Caroline said softly, “This is getting rather heated. Although, it is clear from this argument that you disagree with Charlie’s decisions, Bill. You think the break-up of his marriage was his fault even though he is telling you that it wasn’t.”

“He never liked Astoria,” Charlie muttered, “Always said it would end in disaster because she was too young.”

“And I was right, wasn’t I?” Bill cut in.

“Fleur was younger than you too!” Charlie retorted.

“Not that much younger!” Bill said, “And she wasn’t a kid when I met her!”

“She wasn’t a kid?” Charlie scoffed, “Fresh out of school, barely spoke English and landed a job as an apprentice at your bank? Oh, come off it you fucking prick! How’s that any different from me hooking up with Astoria the Christmas after she left school, huh? She wasn’t some green little teenage girl; she was the CEO of her Dad’s company, she was kicking arse and taking names so give over with your shitty excuses!”

“Okay!” Caroline intervened, “You both married women who are younger than you, and you both met them when they were fresh out of school. You both fled the country the minute _you_ left school to work in a far-flung corner of the world. Then for different reasons, you came home, and you settled down. You must be able to see that there are many similarities here, so why is there so much tension between you? You ought to be close.”

“We are close,” Charlie muttered, “That fucking idiot is my best friend.”

“Exactly,” Bill said, glaring at Charlie, “I love him to bits, but he’s also my stupid kid brother, and I hate seeing him throwing his life away.”

“A-ha! Now we are getting to the core of the problem,” Caroline said, leaning forward, “Charlie’s path is following yours, Bill. So why do you think he’s throwing his life away?”

“Because I’m 34 years old, I fucked up my first marriage, and I love my kid, but I’m a weekend Dad,” Bill said bitterly, “I’m finally with the right person, but if I hadn’t fucked it up I could have been with her for years. I could have had a life with her, I could have kids at Hogwarts now, but I don’t, and I don’t want Charlie to follow me down that path.”

“I didn’t realise you were that bitter,” Charlie said. He sighed and looked his brother in the eye, “And I didn’t realise you felt that way about me and everything going on with me.”

“Of course I feel that way, you moron,” Bill retorted, “I liked Astoria well enough, but I always saw it ending in disaster, and I didn’t want that. I wanted you two to prove me wrong.”

“Yeah, I wanted to prove you wrong too,” Charlie admitted.

“You really don’t know why it fizzled out?” Bill asked.

Charlie shook his head, “I’ve tried to needle it out of Harry, but if he does know anything he hasn’t told me.”

“He’s a good kid, a good brother,” Bill said honestly, “If he knew anything, he’d tell you.”

“Yeah,” Charlie said. He shrugged and looked down at the table, “But no use dwelling, is there? It’s a done deal now – she’s my ex-wife, and all that’s left to do is move on and forget about her.”

“You need to move on,” Caroline agreed, “But you should never forget about the people you loved. Whether they die or they just cut ties with you, they make up who you are so forgetting them would be like putting a part of yourself in a box and locking it away.”

Bill nodded thoughtfully, “You are pretty good at this stuff.”

“I’m not the best in my field at 26 years old for no reason,” Caroline remarked.

“Oh shit, Char – she’s so your type,” Bill muttered, “She’s hot _and_ young.”

“And she’s also right here,” Caroline remarked with a pointed look.

“Yep, sorry,” Bill said sheepishly.

“I believe you have something to say to your brother?” Caroline prompted.

Bill nodded and turned to his little brother.

“Char – don’t try and follow me, don’t make the same mistakes that I did. Stay put and let the right person come to you, then when they do, don’t run from them, just let them in.”

Charlie frowned, “And what if the right person is gone?”

Bill shrugged, “Don’t just let her ride off into the sunset on her private Greengrass Industries jet plane – fight for her.”

“Firstly, she doesn’t have a jet plane because she’s a witch and secondly, we’re divorced, Bill,” Charlie said with a long-suffering sigh.

“Then get over her and keep your head above water,” Bill advised, “Because you might think she’s the one right now, but there will be other ones.”

“Which is a less poetic way of saying that there are other fish in the sea,” Caroline said with a slight smile, “But Bill is right, Charlie. You need to make a decision – fight for Astoria or let her go.”

Charlie opened his mouth, but Caroline shook her head and held up her hand.

“Don’t decide right now. Think about it for a few days, and when we meet again, we’ll focus on that topic.”

“Alright,” Charlie agreed, “Thanks for your time, Caroline.”

Caroline smiled warmly, “I’ll owl you a date and place for our next meeting.”

“Don’t worry about the place,” Charlie cut in, “I think I’m finally ready to come into your office.”

“Well,” Caroline mused, “That _is_ progress. Goodnight boys.”

Charlie said goodnight and Bill gave her a small wave.

The moment the coffee shop door shut, Bill looked his brother dead in the eye.

“How badly do you want to shag her?”

“So badly,” Charlie groaned, “I swear, having her as my therapist _is_ the ultimate test because if I _did_ go there, it would be for destructive reasons.”

Bill raised an eyebrow at his younger brother.

“You miss her?”

“Yeah, I miss Astoria,” Charlie said half-heartedly, “And the part of me that Caroline is trying to fix still thinks sex will make me feel better. But I’d feel so guilty for doing that to Caroline, so I remind myself of that every time I want to make a move.”

Bill nodded thoughtfully, “D’you know what then, Char? That’s damn good progress.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah,” Bill replied as if this were obvious, “Because a couple of weeks ago you were ready to shag a kid and break up his relationship so what you just said there? It’s a sign of emotional maturity that I didn’t think you were capable of.”

Charlie snorted and hit him around the head with a napkin.

“You and your backhanded compliments, you fucking prick.”

Bill just grinned wolfishly in response.

* * *

“Good morning,” Harry chirped when he stepped into the Homicide Office.

Jason raised an eyebrow at him, “Don’t you have your own office?”

“Yeah, but the company is terrible,” Harry said with a grin, “How are you guys getting on with the werewolf case?”

“It’s not a case yet,” Draco pointed out, “It’s a hunch – albeit one that you, I and Theo all had so probably a good one, but still.”

“Fair point, did you track down the reporter?” Harry asked.

Owen nodded, “Jason and I spoke to her yesterday. She didn’t find out by skill.”

“Unless you count strategic sleeping around as skill,” Terry cut in, “Which Jace would know all about. How did that job interview at Greengrass Industries go?”

“Fuck off, Terry,” Jason said, chucking an old quill at the other Auror, “She was hot, I was drunk and horny. That’s the only reason I slept with the chick – sorry Harry, I know she’s your sister-in-law.”

“It’s fine,” Harry said, looking vaguely amused, “But carry on – the reporter?”

Owen nodded, “Yeah, she was sleeping with Wayne Hopkins in the DRCMC, so she found out from him that a new werewolf had popped up on the map and that it was an adolescent. She asked him for a location when he was drunk, and he gave it to her, so she tracked the kid down and got the story.”

“Wayne’s moved on from you, Draco,” Harry said, shooting his partner a grin, “You jealous?”

“Totally,” Draco said sarcastically, “The point being, the reporter was a dead end. Theo is looking into previous resurgences of attacks like this. He thinks it might have happened before.”

“What might have happened before, a magical creature uprising?” Terry asked in disbelief.

“Something like that,” Draco answered, “Don’t be so sceptical.”

“Scepticism is the lowest form of wit. I’ll write that in your appraisal Terry,” Harry joked.

“Then at least get the quote right, Potter,” Draco drawled, “Its sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, honestly.”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Close enough. Anyway, speaking of appraisals – Owen, you’re up.”

Owen got to his feet, and Harry had to give him credit – he didn’t look nervous like the other two Juniors he had done appraisals on had.

“While I’m busy being a paper pusher, keep looking into those cases,” Harry said, “I have a feeling that they are linked somehow.”

“So do I but without being able to break into the coven, we’re at a loose end,” Draco admitted, “We know a werewolf attacked the kid, so we’re tracking down any registered wolves in that area for questioning, but there’s not much else we can do.”

“Keep up with the werewolf questioning,” Harry said thoughtfully, “I’ve got an idea on the vampire front, but I’ll come back to you on that when it’s fully thought out.”

“Alright, will do,” Draco said simply.

Harry opened the door of the bullpen and led Owen out.

“You’re not seriously thinking of going undercover as a vampire, are you sir?” Owen asked.

“I’m not seriously thinking about it,” Harry answered, “I’m just wondering if you guys are capable of doing it.”

“Polyjuice potion won’t work on magical creatures because their DNA doesn’t match up to ours,” Owen pointed out, “It’s why we shouldn’t use animal hairs in polyjuice potion.”

“I know, my best friend accidentally polyjuiced into a cat once and it wasn’t pretty,” Harry said, snickering in amusement at the image of Hermione with a tail.

“But there are other ways to mascarade as a vampire. The only issue is that all of them are risky.”

Before Owen could ask any more questions about Harry’s half-formed idea, they reached the Assistant Heads office. Harry opened the door and motioned for Owen to walk in then he slipped in after him and closed the door.

“Sit down, Owen,” Harry said cheerfully, “Make yourself comfortable.”

Owen did so, and Harry flipped open his folder.

"So, the good news is that I’m happy with you and the Homicide department are happy with you. We think you are performing well considering how short a time you have been here for and you’re a great addition to the team.”

“Thank you, sir,” Owen chirped.

“Don’t thank me, it’s mostly from Draco,” Harry admitted, “This is what he wrote about you when I asked him for a brief description of your progress: _I am delighted with Owen's work ethic since he joined the department. He has never been late; he is always fully committed to his work and will take on extra shifts to ease the workload of those on the team who have families. Owen never complains about doing night duty or arson duty. He excels at every job you give him and never complains about being lumped with the boring jobs typically given to the Juniors. Overall, he is a very dedicated, hard worker and I am pleased with his work.”_

Owen grinned, “He doesn’t show it though, does he?”

“Of course not, he was a Slytherin,” Harry said with an amused smile, “And you were a Hufflepuff. He’ll openly show that he likes Ben, but you’ll need to work a bit harder. The good news is that when he does open up to you, he’s a brilliant mentor and you’ll be lucky to have him.”

Owen nodded, “Sounds fair.”

“He basically said in his appraisal that you’re good at what you do because you were a Hufflepuff,” Harry pointed out, “So he doesn’t look down on you because of that. It’s just that Slytherins have some twisted sort of camaraderie going on. I don’t understand it, to be honest.”

Owen chuckled, “I do. All houses have it, but I think Gryffindor and Slytherin might be the worst.”

“I would probably agree with you there,” Harry admitted, “But Hufflepuffs go far in this job, Owen. You guys are fiercely loyal and totally dependable. You work your arses off, and it shows. The only thing I would say to you is don’t let the job get to you. I can’t speak for all of you, but I know a lot of Hufflepuffs who can be quite sensitive, and in this job, that will get you hurt.”

“I understand,” Owen promised.

“Good,” Harry said simply. He leant back in his chair, “So what are your personal goals? What do you want to achieve in the next year?”

Owen frowned, “I’m not sure.”

“Think about it,” Harry advised, “Think about sitting opposite me one year from today. What do you want to be able to say you’ve done that you haven’t done yet?”

Owen’s eyes lit up, “I’d like to have done my basic Healers qualification so the department can class me as a field Healer as well as an Auror.”

“Brilliant goal,” Harry said with a smile, “I’ll put you on the waiting list for the next training course. I think it runs every three months if my memory serves me correctly. Lastly, what are your future aspirations? That can be for the next year or the next three, but what's the next thing you want out of your career?”

“I want to qualify as a General Auror,” Owen answered.

Harry nodded and scribbled that down.

“Great. That’s you done, but from my perspective, I’d like to know how you feel you’re settling in?”

“I feel great,” Owen said honestly, “Ben and I didn’t talk much in training, we clashed heads a few times actually but working with him these last few months, I’ve come to realise he’s a decent guy and we make a good team.”

“You do,” Harry agreed.

“I feel really at home in the Homicide department, so thank you for welcoming me into the family,” Owen added.

“You’re welcome,” Harry said, reaching across the table to shake his hand, “And keep up the good work.”

* * *

Harry had a quick coffee break and absolutely did not spend 15 minutes gossiping with Blanche about how Ginny was weird when she was pregnant because she was more into Blaise than her.

“I mean, what’s with that?” Blanche had asked with a roll of her eyes, “It’s like because she has his baby in her they’re bonding more or whatever.”

“Fair shout,” Harry had admitted, “Hormones and all.”

Blanche had pouted, “Well, it sucks. I’m lonely, I want my cuddling partner back, but she keeps sleeping with my brother.”

“Who is her husband,” Harry had reminded Blanche.

“That’s not the point,” Blanche had muttered.

“It kind of is though,” Harry had teased.

Blanche had then accused Harry of sounding like her mother and strutted back to her office. So Harry ducked his head into the Organised Crime office.

“Sorenson, you in the middle of something?”

“Not really,” Sorenson said, looking up from the file on his desk, “Just trying to work out which scumbag is in charge of this new pop-up brothel that keeps appearing in Knockturn at all hours of the night.”

Harry sighed, “Another one?”

“You take down one Queen Bitch, and another one appears,” Sorenson shrugged.

“Queen Bitches, is that what we’re calling them now?” Percy asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Better than pimps,” Blaine Zabini piped up.

Emma Dobbs made a face.

“I can’t believe Lucia got herself involved with brothels when she went underground. You would have thought she would want to tear that world down with the way that she grew up.”

“Unfortunately it goes both ways,” Harry said with a shrug, “Anyway, Sorenson, it’s time for your appraisal.”

“Great,” Sorenson muttered under his breath.

“And don’t go running off anywhere, Ritchie,” Harry said to Ritchie Coote, “We’re doing this alphabetically, so you’re in after him.”

Ritchie gave him the thumbs up.

“Alright, see you later, boss.”

Sorenson put his folder down on Percy’s desk.

“Have fun,” he said, patting him on the shoulder and following Harry into his office.

Harry knew that Sorenson’s appraisal was never going to be a chatty occasion. Sorenson was to the point, and he had a bit of an issue with authority figures – especially when that authority figure was younger than him and the friend of his kid sister.

“Firstly, Sorenson, how is the healing going?” Harry asked, gesturing at the burns on Sorenson’s face.

Sorenson sighed, “Yeah, they’re healing fine. Clara keeps an eye on them, puts all the right sorts of salves on to try and stop the skin pulling and tearing, you know?”

Harry nodded.

“Some of them still pull and hurt sometimes, but it’s nothing I can’t handle,” Sorenson said honestly, “It’s just an adjustment. Every time I look in the mirror, I get a shock because I keep expecting to see my old face.”

“I can understand that, but you’re lucky to have a woman like Clara who will stand by you through the healing process,” Harry said honestly.

“Oh, and I know it,” Sorenson said with a small, fond smile.

Harry leant back in his chair.

“How are you finding Percy as an Auror partner?”

Sorenson grinned, “Do you know what? I like the guy, and I really didn’t expect to. I remember the nerd with the horn-rimmed glasses who used to get his head flushed down the toilet for reading books about how to succeed in business.”

Harry chuckled, “Yeah, I remember him as that guy too.”

“But he’s not like that anymore, is he?” Sorenson asked rhetorically, “His brother died, and he re-evaluated his life. Man; I can’t blame him for that. If anything happened to Sadie…” he shuddered, “When she nearly died after having Mina and Charlie, I was terrified. I can’t imagine my world without her so yeah, I get Percy and I like him a lot. He’s a damn good Auror.”

“Yes, he is,” Harry agreed, “And you two are on a roll right now. Organised Crime is doing brilliantly.”

“We’ve got a bloody good team right now,” Sorenson admitted, “I’m really happy with how they have all come together – all of them with their own little quirks and areas of expertise. You’ve got Percy with his brains and then Blaine with his knowledge of everything potions related. Ritchie knows his brooms, and he’s been a great asset with recovering stolen brooms on the black market. Andrew, would you believe? He was on track to become a lawyer before he changed tack and did this, so he knows all of these little loopholes that have been so valuable. Emma – she surprised me, I thought Lucia held her up, but with Lucia gone, she’s come into her own, and when it comes to anything brothel related, she kicks arse. I’ve put her in undercover more times than I can count and she takes down as many of those scumbags as she can in every pop-up brothel I’ve put her in.”

Harry smiled slightly, “That little spiel there? That’s why I’ve rated you overall as exceeding expectations. You had one area that you didn’t quite hit, but it was for attendance, and that’s not your fault. You’ve had a serious injury, you were never going to get perfect attendance this year, but your supervisory ability really pushed that exceeding expectations mark. You are a brilliant leader, Sorenson and that’s not just coming from me.”

Sorenson watched him with interest.

“Who else is it coming from?”

“Percy,” Harry admitted, “As your partner, he gave the secondary comments for your appraisal, and I have to say, he sang your praises. He said that _Sorenson is a reliable Auror partner. He will always have your back, he will almost always have the answers, and if he doesn't, then he knows someone who does. His depth of knowledge and his skill is something to be admired, and he has become a real role model to the younger Aurors in Organised Crime. He pushes them hard, but he knows that's the way to bring out the best in them._ ”

Sorenson grinned, “He’s a good egg, that one. I never thought I’d get a better partner than Blaine, but Perce is coming pretty damn close.”

Harry chuckled, “Sometimes the people we work best with aren’t the ones we expect. Neville was my best friend, and yeah, I miss him being my Auror partner but Draco and I? We’re a far better team than Neville and I ever were.”

Sorenson nodded, “That’s true. You and Draco are getting yourselves quite a reputation.”

“Are we?” Harry asked in surprise.

“You haven’t heard the whisperings?” Sorenson asked.

“Surprisingly, no, I haven’t,” Harry admitted.

“Well, folks around here are saying that you two are the next big thing,” Sorenson said honestly, “Perce heard Shep tell Kingsley that he hadn’t seen a pair with such promise since the likes of Mad-Eye and Tonks.”

Harry allowed himself a small smile at that.

“Well, that is high praise, but we don’t it for for the praise, do we?”

“Nah, but come on man, the praise is still pretty nice to hear,” Sorenson said with a grin.

Harry chuckled and glanced down at the piece of paper in front of him.

“Speaking of that, I need to know what your personal aspirations for the next year are.”

“With any luck, learning how to be a Dad all over again,” Sorenson answered.

“You and Clara are starting a family?” Harry asked, happily.

Sorenson allowed himself a genuine smile.

“We’re trying real hard, let’s put it that way.”

“That’s the best part,” Harry grinned.

“I didn’t really get that with Oscar,” Sorenson laughed, “I just got a teenager in tears who didn’t want the baby she was pregnant with.”

“Is she still not in Oscar's life?” Harry asked.

Sorenson shook his head, “She doesn’t want to be as far as I’m aware and that’s just fine with me. Clara’s his mum in all the ways that matter.”

“That’s true,” Harry said, “Speaking of family, how are you finding it having Owen in the department?”

Sorenson shrugged, “Makes no odds to me. I don’t know the kid. I didn’t even know my Uncle Seb had a kid till Sadie wrote to tell me the hat had sorted our cousin into Hufflepuff. I’ve nothing against the kid; it was my Dad who burned all of his bridges.”

Harry nodded, “He might be getting out on early release soon, I hear?”

Sorenson’s eyes darkened.

“Maybe.”

“Are you feeling okay about that?” Harry asked slowly.

“Honestly, mate, no,” Sorenson answered, “I get that he was scared, you know? A lot of people were scared during the war but to just fold like that and play right into Voldemort’s hands? I know he didn’t drop that bomb, but he did make it. Something that his hands made killed innocent people, and one of those people was Eddie.”

“You and Eddie Lamb were close?” Harry asked curiously.

“We were friends,” Sorenson said – his voice suddenly less harsh than it usually was, “We both fought for the underground faction of the Aurors during the war. You got to know your brothers in arms back then, you know? You spent days travelling together, and weeks holed up underground in caves sometimes. All we had were songs and stories so yeah, his death cut me up pretty bad. Caroline was pregnant at the time, and I had a three-year-old who didn’t know why he was living with his Grandma, who didn’t know where his Dad was and why he couldn’t just pop in and say hi.”

Harry swallowed, “I don’t think I could have done it, you know.”

“Sometimes I don’t know how I did,” Sorenson admitted, “But when I think about my father, I just can’t understand it. He was supposed to be protecting my mother and my son, but he just caved. I was keeping an eye on the house, so when the wards alerted me to Death Eaters; I apparated there as fast as I could. I saw my father bowing to them, so I grabbed my mother and Oscar and got them to a safe house, but I’ll never forgive him for that. I mean, what did he think they were going to do to his wife and grandson after he turned? Did he really think they would just leave them well enough alone?”

“I think a lot of people were scared and did stupid things to protect the people that they loved,” Harry said honestly, “From what I know, the Death Eaters told your father that Sadie was held captive at Hogwarts. They threatened to kill her if he didn’t submit.”

“And he chose Sadie,” Sorenson said with a shrug, “Over my son and me. Sadie was always his little princess; that’s why they named her Sadie. It means princess, did you know that?”

Harry shook his head.

“They wanted a girl, but they got me,” Sorenson said, “Then they gave up trying, and when I was four, their little princess was born – their miracle baby. Don’t get me wrong, I love Sadie, but there was never any doubt that she was the favourite.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, she feels the same way that you do about your father getting out,” Harry admitted, “She’s dreading it, and she doesn’t want him in her life. She went through the war in Hogwarts, living out of a bathroom and doing what she could and _he_ caved. She doesn’t understand it either, but there’s a Gryffindor at heart in your little sister, even if she doesn’t want to admit it.”

Sorenson smiled, “She’s a good kid, and as much as he irritates me, I’ve got to thank Theo for getting her through that war. She wouldn’t have come through if not for him.”

“They wouldn’t have come through if not for each other,” Harry admitted, “But I feel like we’ve gone slightly off-topic here, sorry. The last question for your appraisal is about your future aspirations.”

“Well long-term, I want to be running the training centre, but I reckon I’ll be up against Shep for that job,” Sorenson joked.

Harry laughed and jotted this down.

“Carry on as you are at the moment and without question, he’ll have you as his second in command.”

“Sounds good to me,” Sorenson said simply.

Harry reached across the desk and shook his hand.

“Thanks for your time, Sorenson. Keep up the good work and good luck on the baby front.”

Sorenson winked at him.

“Cheers mate,” he said before exiting the office.

* * *

Harry finished up that day with his final two appraisals which both went well. Ritchie Coote was doing well in the Organised Crime department as Sorenson himself had told Harry. Dennis Creevey received a glowing appraisal from both Harry and Elizabeth which didn’t surprise Harry at all. Putting him in CPS had been an inspired decision of his if he said so himself.

At midday, Harry filed away that morning's appraisals and headed home with plans to work on the greenhouse with Teddy. It seemed that someone else had the same idea because Harry spotted Neville working away in the nursery greenhouse as he walked up the path.

Harry smiled and slipped inside.

"Couldn’t wait for me, huh?”

“Sorry, Dad,” Teddy said, looking up nervously.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that,” Harry said, ruffling Teddy’s hair, “I’m just happy you love this place so much. It’s looking great, don’t you think Nev?”

“You’ve done a brilliant job,” Neville said honestly, “Some of what I taught you has sunk in.”

Harry laughed, “Clearly. You’ve been making sure Uncle Nev takes plenty of breaks to sit down though, haven’t you kiddo?”

“Yep,” Teddy piped up.

“He’s kept me right,” Neville promised, catching Harry’s eye, “And Daphne keeps bringing me coffee.”

Harry nodded, “Hey Ted, can you run inside and grab me a bottle of water? I’m all talked out after chatting to Aurors all morning.”

“Yeah, Dad,” Teddy said, running off towards the house.

Harry leant against one of the benches.

“Neville, you’re pushing it.”

“I’m fine,” Neville argued, “I’m just bloody bored!”

“You don’t get the all-clear until your six-month check in February,” Harry pointed out, “Until then you are meant to be taking it as easy as possible. That doesn’t mean spending all morning in a greenhouse, as much as Teddy loves it.”

“I can be useful here, Harry,” Neville said, his eyes searching his best friends, “At home, I’m sitting there with nothing to do wondering how my life got so fucked up.”

“You have the Wizengamot to distract you, don’t you?”

“Not really,” Neville admitted, “Kingsley and I reconfigured it, and now it’s just a matter of time while everyone runs to be elected or re-elected. Until we’re in session again, there’s nothing to do on that front.”

“You need another project,” Harry realised.

Neville sighed, “Like what?”

“I don’t know. What do you want to do?” Harry asked him.

“I just want to help people, like I did when I was an Auror,” Neville said honestly, “I want to make a difference in the world again because right now, all I am is a couch potato and Teddy’s favourite uncle.”

“That’s not such a bad thing to be,” Harry said softly. He rested his hand on Neville’s arm and said, “And right now, you could be my best mate. I could really do with a rant about Roger Davies before I do his appraisal tomorrow because I think I might punch his smug little face.”

“Because he married Daphne in a fake future that’s never going to happen?” Neville scoffed.

“Exactly,” Harry remarked calmly, “So teach me some breathing techniques or something, whatever it takes to make sure I don’t punch him on sight.”

Neville chuckled and bowed his head.

“Alright,”

“Good,” Harry said with a warm smile, “We can do it in the drawing-room, sitting down in comfy, supportive chairs.”

“Yeah, I get the hint,” Neville said, shooting Harry a look that was somewhere between fond and exasperated.

* * *

When the kids went to bed that night, the adults gathered in the drawing-room of Grimmauld Place couldn’t deny it – they were nervous.

“It’s going to be fine,” Sadie promised as she handed out cups of coffee, “Daphne has a total authority figure crush on Bill. She thinks he’s the best curse breaker that has ever walked this earth and we all know, he’s smart – probably smarter than even you, Theo.”

“Is he inventing a revolutionary map that is going to change the future of the DMLE?” Theo quipped.

Sadie shot her husband a long-suffering look.

“Be quiet or you’ll have to move back into the castle before the rest of us, your ego won’t fit through the single door into this house anymore.”

Theo grinned at her.

“Nice. You’re getting better with these smart-arse quips; I’ll give you that.”

“It’s the world of politics,” Sadie said, rolling her eyes so that Hermione (who was sitting behind her) didn’t notice.

“It certainly opens your eyes to new possibilities,” Hermione agreed, “But that’s not what tonight is about. tonight is about fixing Theo.”

“Without draining my magic,” Draco added.

“It won’t drain your magic,” Hermione promised, “Worst case scenario, you accidentally give him a little bit of magic, but that’s not the end of the world – you’re an incredibly powerful wizard, Draco.”

Draco smirked, and Theo snorted.

“You two have got a weird idea of foreplay.”

Hermione made a face.

“You’re disgusting, Theo.”

“ _Floo signature: William Weasley.”_

“Granted,” Hermione said.

The flames turned green, and Bill stepped out, dusting himself down as he did so.

Sadie smiled at him.

“Coffee, Bill?”

Bill took a cup from the tray and sipped it.

“Uh, perfect…thank you.”

“I told her how you take it,” Hermione said by way of explanation, “Thank you, for agreeing to help Theo.”

Bill shrugged, “He’s Daphne’s cousin, and she’s one of my best friends. I was hardly going to say no, was I?”

“All the same, thank you,” Sadie re-iterated.

“So, how is this going to work?” Draco asked Bill.

“Well, I presume Bill will just talk you through it. You will have to do all of the hard work yourselves,” Hermione remarked.

“Correct,” Bill said, “Now it’s relatively easy to teach you the concept if you’ve done it before because you know what to look for or feel for more to the point. You can’t see a magical core, you feel it, and that creates the illusion of sight. For example, when I felt Daphne’s, it felt pure, so in my head, I visualised it as silver. When I feel Lara’s, it’s strong, so I visualise it as a fiery red.”

Draco frowned, “Okay, I guess that makes sense.”

“The way I put it to Daphne the first time I taught her is also applicable for you two,” Bill said, looking between the two men, “It’s going to take all of Draco and a little bit of Theo.”

“That sounds like our marriage,” Hermione remarked dryly.

Bill grinned wolfishly and said, “You were definitely too good for my baby brother, Hermione. There’s no way he could keep up with your dark sense of humour.”

Hermione smirked in response.

Bill continued, “Normally the person borrowing the magical power would initiate the process which would mean it would be you, Theo. However, in this case, I think Draco will need to do it because he’s literally giving your magical core a boost. Think of it like jump-starting a car.”

The three purebloods looked at Bill blankly, and Hermione rolled her eyes.

“They will never understand that, Bill. None of them can drive, and I strongly suspect that Draco and Theo obtained their motorbike license illegally.”

“Draco only used a confundus charm to be fair,” Theo piped up.

“If Draco only used a confundus charm, what did you do?” Bill asked Theo.

“Obliviated the examiner,” Draco and Sadie said in unison.

“I didn’t think you knew about that,” Theo said, looking at his wife in surprise.

“Of course I knew about that, there was no other way you’d have passed,” Sadie said dryly.

Bill smirked, “Anyway, the person on the receiving end doesn’t have to do much so Theo, you can just lie back and think of England.”

“Well, that’ll be a nice change,” Theo joked.

Sadie threw a cushion half-heartedly at him and told him to shut up.

Draco didn’t join in with the hilarity. Instead, he looked at Bill.

“And I have to do the hard part?”

“Yep, I’m afraid so,” Bill said, “Which is why I need to talk you through it before you start. Magic sharing has consequences if it’s done wrong.”

“I know,” Draco said darkly, “I’m almost positive that my Aunt Bellatrix went mad because she let Voldemort share her magic. They had a sick, twisted relationship and I’m sure that’s part of it.”

“I think you’re probably right,” Bill admitted, “But this isn’t like that. You care about Theo so you’ll be tentative and gentle when you’re poking around in his head. Voldemort wasn’t considerate or gentle. I suspect he took more power than he should have done and that he did it too often.”

Draco nodded and cleared his throat.

“Okay. So what do I need to do?”

“Theo will need to focus on his magical core which will make it easier for you to focus in on that when you get inside his head. You will use legilimency, and if Theo’s doing what he’s supposed to, you should see his magical core straight away,” Bill explained.

Draco nodded once more.

“Then?”

“His magical core will look drained, or cracked,” Bill said, “If it’s cracked, then I’m afraid there’s not much we can do, but I don’t think that’s the case. A magical core should glow brightly, but Theo’s will either be flickering or will just glow dimly. You are going to have to focus on your own magical core, and when you see it, you need to siphon your magic into his. If it’s working, it should look like a memory being transferred into a pensieve.”

“Okay,” Draco said, “How will we know when enough magic has been transferred?”

“Theo’s magical core will stop flickering, and there will be a flash of light. That will probably force you out of his head too. Still, it will be the sign that his magic has stabilised,” Bill said, “Afterwards, your magic should restore itself as it would if you expended it by doing a difficult spell like a fully corporeal Patronus.”

“Should?” Draco questioned.

“There is a chance that you do it wrong,” Bill admitted, “That you accidentally give your magic to Theo instead of share it but if you’re as competent with Legilimency as I think you are then I don’t think it will be an issue.”

“You don’t have to do it if you don’t feel comfortable, Draco,” Theo said.

Draco shook his head, “Don’t be ridiculous, Theo. We’re doing it, but I would like just to get it over and done with.”

“Alright,” Bill said, “It will be easier if there’s some sort of physical contact so it’s going to look like you’re about to get married but Theo – stand in front of Draco and hold both of his hands.”

Theo did so and looked at Draco.

“We look ridiculous, don’t we?”

“Shut up, I’m nervous enough about this,” Draco bit back.

“Alright, shutting up,” Theo said.

Bill smiled slightly, “Right. Theo, close your eyes and feel your magic. It’s going to be harder for you now than it was in the past because your magic is weaker, but you need to feel that slight vibration, hear the slight hum of your magical core. When you do, the rest of the world will fade out, but you need to keep focusing on your core, okay?”

Theo nodded and shut his eyes.

“Nod when you’re ready for Draco to start his part,” Bill added.

Theo’s eyes were tightly closed, and they all held their breath as they waited for something to happen. After a minute or so, Theo nodded.

“Okay, Draco – this is where you come in,” Bill said, “Use legilimency, and you should see Theo’s magical core, nod when you do.”

Draco raised his wand and said clearly, “Legilimens!”

His eyes glazed over as he threw his subconscious into Theo’s head. Almost instantly, he saw the core. It looked like a container, and as Bill had said, it was only half-full. Rather than glowing brightly as it should have done, it was flickering like the dying flames in an old fireplace.

“Now feel your own magic, Draco,” Bill’s voice said. It echoed and sounded like it was far away, “It will feel strong; you should be able to feel the vibrations throughout your entire body.”

While keeping that image of Theo’s core in his mind, Draco focused on his magical core, and surely enough, he felt it throughout his entire body. The container was full and glowed silvery-green.

“Now siphon a little of that magic out of yourself and into Theo,” Bill instructed.

In the drawing-room, Bill watched on nervously with Sadie and Hermione. He had a feeling that what they were about to see would shock them.

As Draco focused on siphoning the magic, there emitted a silvery-green streak of light from his glazed over eyes, and it encircled Theo, like a protective charm.

In his head, Draco watched Theo’s magical core fill up until the flickering stopped. It began to glow again, dimly at first, but the light got brighter until it blinded Draco.

In the real world, there was a bright, white flash, and everyone covered their eyes. Draco was pushed out of Theo’s head and physically forced back a few metres. He sat down on the sofa as he caught his breath.

Theo opened his eyes, and they shone silver for a fraction of a second before returning to their usual hazel colour.

He looked at Draco and asked, “Are you okay?”

Draco nodded, “I just feel a bit drained.”

“Does that mean it went wrong?” Theo asked anxiously.

Bill cast a diagnostic charm and shook his head.

“No, I just underestimated how much of your magic it would take to stabilise Theo’s. You’ll be okay, but you might need to take the day off tomorrow to recuperate.”

“I’ll be fine,” Draco said, pushing himself up, “I’m running the Homicide department at the moment so I can’t take a day off.”

“I’ve already spoken to Harry,” Bill warned him, “He assured me that Aiden Ford could keep the boys right for a day while you recover.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “Meddling, bloody Gryffindors.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow, “Excuse me. Have you forgotten that your lumping your wife into that category?”

“Sorry, love,” Draco said, smiling slightly at her.

“The good news is that your magical core is already restoring itself,” Bill said from where he was now leaning against the fireplace, “So you shouldn’t be out of action for long and Theo, you’re good as new.”

Theo nodded and looked Draco in the eye.

“Thank you, Draco. I honestly can’t thank you enough, I felt…I felt powerless.”

“I know,” Draco said quietly, “And I remember that feeling, during the war. I remember how terrible it felt.”

Bill sighed, “It’s never a nice feeling. But I’ll leave you guys to get on with the rest of your night. Make sure Draco rests up and if you have to tie him down to stop him going into work tomorrow, do it.”

“I’m sure Hermione will oblige, given some of the things I’ve walked in on,” Theo teased.

Hermione glared at Theo and said an obscene curse word. Bill snorted in amusement and bade them farewell. Then he disappeared into the flames.

Hermione sat down next to Draco.

“He’s right, you know? You do need to take a day off tomorrow.”

“You shouldn’t go in until your magic is fully restored, not in your line of work,” Sadie agreed.

“I know,” Draco sighed, “I suppose this is me taking the first step towards my personal goal for the year.”

Theo frowned, “Your personal goal? Like the ones we have to give in our appraisals?”

Draco nodded, “I told Harry that my personal goal was to get a better work-life balance because I need that more than ever after what Harry told me last night.”

Hermione frowned too, “What did Harry tell you last night?”

“He’s been seeing Caroline to help him manage his drinking and because he has now confessed that what happened the other night was a suicide attempt,” Draco said, looking in particular at Hermione when he delivered that blow.

“I know,” Hermione admitted.

“He told you?” Draco asked, hurt flashing in his eyes. It shouldn’t have upset him that Harry had told her first, she was one of his best friends and had been for a long time. He and Harry had only been Auror partners for a short amount of time comparatively.

Hermione shook her head, “No, but I pieced it all together. Harry and I used to talk about the Forest of Dean fondly. During the war, it was our safe haven. We used to talk about staying there and growing old so it seemed fitting that it was the place he would go to do something like that. Then from the way he was afterwards, the way he was with the kids…it was like he had a new lease of life, so I did suspect that he had tried to kill himself.”

“Poor Daphne,” Sadie breathed, “How is she doing?”

“How is **he** doing?” Theo added.

“Honestly, they are doing okay now,” Draco replied, “But I think a large part of that is down to what Caroline showed him. Mental Health Healers have this tactic that they use after suicide attempts, they use an Alternatis Mundi potion to show the person how life would pan out for their loved ones if the suicide attempt had been successful.”

“I’ve heard of that,” Theo acknowledged, “It’s got a very high success rate.”

“I can understand why - it scared me, and I wasn’t the one who it was designed to scare,” Draco admitted.

“Why did it scare you?” Hermione asked.

“Because Harry dying affected all of us,” Draco replied, “I blamed myself for his death because I found his body. Neville and I got into a duel about it because he blamed me too, and in that duel, Neville hurt his back. He ended up paralysed, which made him and Lilly split up. Lilly married Michael Corner and raised her twin boys with him.”

Hermione snorted, “As if! Lilly can’t stand Michael Corner, and she would never marry him!”

“If she was heavily pregnant with twins and he showed her kindness then, to be honest, I can see why Lilly would marry him,” Theo admitted, “She’s incredibly logical, and she would want what was best for her children. In a world where Neville wasn’t an option, I doubt love or feelings would come into the equation.”

Draco nodded, unsurprised by Theo’s comment.

“Neville became an alcoholic and had no relationship with his children.”

“What about you?” Hermione asked, her eyes scanning Draco’s, “How did it affect you?”

“I threw myself into my work because I blamed myself and I thought that you blamed me,” Draco answered, “I started taking my aggression out on illegal duels, and the downward spiral got me killed. I went after some guys without back-up, and I was killed on the job.”

Hermione’s eyes widened, “And me? What did I do?”

“You-” Draco cleared his throat, “- you had a mental breakdown and were committed to a secure ward in St. Mungo’s.”

Hermione looked scared by that prospect.

“But then, what about Elladora and Caspian?”

“They were fine,” Draco said softly as his eyes fell on Sadie and Theo who had been relatively quiet as they listened to Draco talk.

“We took them in,” Sadie realised.

Draco nodded, “You had to sell the castle because you couldn’t afford it on your income. You moved back to this house, and you raised all four kids here. Harry showed me some of it, the fake future, and it was insane…seeing my kids as adults, but they were great, Hermione.”

Hermione smiled tearfully.

“Ella, she looked just like you,” Draco said, his own eyes welling up as he spoke, “And Cas was so confident, and you two-”

Sadie and Theo were surprised to be addressed.

“You two were amazing,” Draco said, his voice rough with emotion, “You stayed strong through all of it, and you raised our children to be wonderful adults. You were the only ones who made it.”

Theo smiled a little sadly and took Sadie’s hand.

“We’ve made it through so much already. I don’t think anything will convince me to give you up now.”

Sadie smiled right back.

“We’ve come a long way from those two kids who met on the train, haven’t we?”

“I think we all forget that you two were basically childhood sweethearts,” Hermione said with a fond smile, “But we shouldn’t. You two are and always have been the goal couple.”

Sadie laughed, “Really? We’re nothing special. I’m not a lawyer or a curse breaker, or a hot-shot Healer. I just edit books.”

“And I was never a top Auror, I’m just a crazy inventor,” Theo added with a smile.

“But you’re so beautifully normal,” Hermione said with a fond smile.

“Beautifully normal,” Theo mused, “I think that might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me, princess.”

“Oh, be quiet, or I’ll take it back,” Hermione warned, but the smile she was hiding gave her away.

Draco chuckled too, with Theo on the mend it finally felt like their year from hell was coming to an end.

* * *

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Sadie asked Theo that evening as they got ready for bed.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Theo called from the bathroom.

“Okay,” Sadie said, “If you say so.”

“What d’you mean if I say so?” Theo asked through a mouthful of toothpaste.

Sadie smiled slightly, “You’ve been quiet ever since Draco and Hermione went up to bed. You’ve had that thoughtful look on your face all night.”

“That’s because I’ve been thinking about stuff,” Theo said, stepping out of the bathroom and smiling at her, “It does happen, you know?”

“I know it does, but I was wondering what you were thinking about,” Sadie confessed, lifting the covers so that Theo could climb into bed with her.

“Oh, all sorts of things,” Theo replied, “My latest invention for one, Shep is really getting behind one-shot wands.”

“You are going to have to come up with a better name than that though,” Sadie pointed out.

Theo yawned, “I know,” he said, rolling over and clicking his fingers, “Nox.”

“Show off,” Sadie murmured as the lights went out.

Theo wrapped his arms around her, and she felt him smile against her back.

“It just feels good to be able to do that again."

"I'm sure it does," Sadie said, her fingers intertwining with Theo’s when he rested his hand on her stomach, “It was a very brave thing for Draco to do, you know? And a show of his loyalty too.”

Theo yawned again, “Well, he’s always been a bit of a closet Gryffindor. Unlike me, I’m Slytherin through and through.”

“No, you’re not,” Sadie said softly, “You’re a Ravenclaw in Slytherin colours, and you know it. You have far more of your mother in you than you do of your father.”

“Hmm,” Theo mused, his lips resting against her neck, “I know I do.”

“You’re sure you don’t need to talk about anything else?” Sadie asked, feeling sleep begin to call to her.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Theo said, kissing her neck gently, “Goodnight, baby.”

Sadie murmured a goodnight and closed her eyes. She listened to the wind whistle through the trees outside, to the comfortable hum of traffic that she missed at the castle. Car headlights flashed against the window every so often, but she found that it all lulled her to sleep. She was just in that comfortable spot – hovering between sleep and wakefulness when Theo spoke again.

“Sadie?”

“Mhmm?”

“There is something else,” Theo admitted.

Sadie could have rolled her eyes, but she was too tired.

“I know.”

“It’s about what Draco said,” Theo continued, “About that fake future Harry saw.”

Sadie opened her eyes and turned around in his arms.

“I had a feeling it might be.”

Theo looked into her bleary eyes.

“We were the only ones who made it.”

Sadie didn’t know what she had been expecting him to say, but it wasn’t that.

“What do you mean?”

Theo sighed, “Draco and Hermione have been in love with each other forever, even if they denied it and channelled it into hatred. They have overcome so much to be together – class, blood purity, inherent distrust.”

Sadie took Theo’s hand as he spoke softly.

“Neville and Lilly have been best friends for years. They went through so much together. They went through a war together,” Theo whispered, “But we were the only ones who made it.”

Sadie raised her hand and placed it on his cheek.

“You don’t think we deserve it? You don’t think we’ve been through enough together too?”

“I just…I’m humbled and amazed by it,” Theo admitted, his eyes meeting hers.

“Look at us, Theo,” Sadie said softly, “We were kids when we met. I was 11 years old and terrified of what was about to come, and you were thrilled to be escaping your father. We were best friends and granted; it took you seven years to notice that I was a girl.”

“Hey, I always noticed,” Theo said with a fond smile, “I just never thought you saw me that way until the war.”

Sadie smiled, “We were 17 when we fell in love and look at us now, eight years later. We have two wonderful children, and everyone who doubted us looks like an idiot now. That didn’t just happen by chance; we aren’t the goal couple because we got lucky. We fought for this, Theo, because we both realised a long time ago that what we have is worth fighting for.”

“I know,” Theo promised her, “I fought so hard while Lucia held me captive, I fought so hard to stay alive and come home to you.”

“And I fought so hard to bring you home,” Sadie said, her hand squeezing his tightly, “You’re a medical miracle, Theo. Nobody knows how you came out of that nightmare world after you had been in there for so long. No Healer can give a medical or a scientific reason for it because there isn’t one. It was love, that was what got you through. It was the pure, unconditional love that you have for your family, and that is exactly how I feel about you, it’s how I’ve always felt.”

Theo smiled and leant forward, capturing her lips in a gentle kiss.

“We’re pretty awesome, aren’t we?”

“Yes,” Sadie chuckled against his lips, “We are pretty awesome.”

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	48. My Shield of Steel When I'm Too Weak to Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daphne helps the Homicide Team with a major breakthrough in their creature attack case and both of the Potters try to find a solution for their son's ailment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:  
> Run Through Walls by The Script.

Harry walked into work in a far better mood than he had in a while on Wednesday morning. He had to admit; the whole paper-pushing aspect of his new job wasn’t as bad as he had expected it to be.

On the way to his office, Harry popped into the Homicide Office and waved to the team.

“Hey guys, you get the memo about Aiden?”

“Yep, what’s up with Draco?” Terry asked.

“Yeah, is he okay?” Ben added.

“He’s fine, just a stomach bug or something,” Harry said offhandedly, “He should be back tomorrow but until then – give Aiden the rundown on your magical beasts gone wild case. You get any further with that yesterday?”

Jason shook his head, “None of the werewolves who live locally came back positive. We’ve got a DNA sample, but we can’t find a match.”

“Have you checked for any missing or recently deceased wolves in the area?” Harry asked curiously.

Jason frowned, “No, we hadn’t.”

Owen’s eyes widened, “You think someone made a werewolf do it then killed them to erase the evidence?”

“I think we shouldn’t rule anything out,” Harry said simply.

“You’re right,” Terry agreed, “We’ll get on that today, Harry.”

“Good,” Harry chirped, “But don’t kiss my arse too much, it won’t help with your appraisal, it’ll just make me put you down as a typical Slytherin.”

Jason snorted in amusement at that comment and Harry shot them all a grin before leaving the office.

Harry kept Neville’s words in his head – _don’t bite Roger’s head off for something he didn’t even do and won’t have a chance to do_ – they were sage words. He politely invited the other Auror into his office, and they sat down to begin Roger’s appraisal.

“So how are you finding things at the moment, Roger?” Harry asked calmly.

Roger shrugged, “Honestly? I’m glad to get some career progression finally. I’ve been an Auror for years, and I was starting to think they’d never let me out of Fraud.”

“Well, we kept you there because you were good there,” Harry pointed out.

Roger sighed, “So good that you ‘promoted’ me to Missing Persons?”

Harry raised an eyebrow at him.

“Do you have a problem with that department?”

“No, but we all know it’s wishy-washy. It’s not one of the big guns, is it?” Roger quipped.

“It takes hard work to head up a department like Homicide or Vice,” Harry pointed out.

“Yet you did it in record time,” Roger said.

Harry leant back in his chair and surveyed Roger.

“If you’re suggesting I only got that job or for that matter, this job because of who I am, then I would think about getting yourself a shovel.”

“What?” Roger asked with a frown.

“To dig yourself out of that hole before it gets any deeper,” Harry said calmly, “I got to head up Homicide because I’m good at what I do and because I put the work in. You would do well to remember that myself and Draco graduated from Auror training two years early – we passed the third year tests at the end of our first year, and that wasn’t a fluke. You can look in my employee record at the scores and the four verified examiners who agreed upon them. We did it because we’re not just good Aurors – we’re great Aurors.”

Roger looked suitably put out, or told off; Harry wasn’t quite sure which one it was.

“To get to the top of the game, you have to make sacrifices,” Harry said, “You have to miss the occasional birthday or in my case, the occasional birth of a child. You have to marry someone who understands what the workload is like and who is enough of a saint to put up with it. It’s thanks to my hard work and my wife's patience that I got to where I did, Roger.”

Roger said nothing.

“So,” Harry said, clearing his throat, “Onto your appraisal.”

Harry almost smirked at the nervous look that passed across Roger’s face.

* * *

“Harry’s definitely onto something,” Terry said, looking up at Aiden.

Their temporary boss nodded.

“Yep, looks like it.”

Their eyes were all on the murder board ahead of them. Nobody said anything as they took in the information that they had just unearthed.

A knock sounded on the door, and Daphne stuck her head in.

“Hey, guys. Is Harry doing an appraisal?”

“Yeah, he’s in there with Roger right now,” Ben replied offhandedly.

Daphne stepped into the office.

“Cool, I’ll just wait in here until he’s done.”

Aiden raised an eyebrow at her as she sat down on Harry’s desk and crossed her legs.

“What’s with the gruesome murder board?”

“That’s classified,” Aiden pointed out.

Daphne made a face.

“Why? Harry will tell me about it later, or I’ll hear him brainstorming the case with Neville.”

The team knew enough about Harry to know that was true, so they didn’t object as Daphne cocked her head and looked more closely at the murder board.

Owen looked pointedly at Ben as if to say, _what do we do_?

Ben shrugged – without Draco, there wasn’t anyone to talk to Daphne and distract her from looking into their case.

“Since when do werewolves partake in suicide pacts?” Daphne asked.

“They don’t,” Terry replied dryly.

Daphne looked over at him and narrowed her eyes.

“Terrence, right? You were a prefect when I got sorted?”

Terry nodded, “It’s Terry these days, but yeah.”

“Huh,” Daphne mused, “Interesting, you’re the second gay Terry I’ve met.”

Terry’s eyes widened, “What? Gay? I’m not gay.”

Daphne frowned, “Weren’t you the Prefect who had a thing with Kevin?”

“Uh, no,” Terry said, clearing his throat, “Kevin Bletchley was my best friend. I didn’t have a thing with him.”

Jason snorted, “Come off it dude; I called it on our first stake-out together.”

Ben nodded, “I got gay vibes from you too, mate.”

“Sorry,” Daphne grimaced, “I didn’t realise it was a secret. You two were pretty open about it in the Slytherin common room.”

“I thought what happened in the Slytherin common room stayed in the Slytherin common room,” Terry said with a roll of his eyes.

“Yeah, not so much anymore,” Ben said with a shrug, “And it's cool if you are gay. I’m not going to try and shag you, I’ve just had my heartbroken, and you’re not my type.”

Daphne chuckled in amusement and helped herself to a cup of coffee.

“But to dig myself out of that hole – sorry Terry – let’s go back to your tough case. Werewolves don’t form suicide pacts and kill themselves at the same time on the same day, but these three did.”

“The morning after the full moon,” Jason agreed with a nod.

“Vampires don’t turn on their familiars, but that one did,” Daphne said, nudging her head in the direction of the ‘vampire killing’ board.

“Yep,” Owen agreed.

“And werewolves don’t attack muggle boys,” Daphne mused.

“But all of that happened,” Ben summarised.

“You do know what it sounds like, don’t you?” Daphne asked, looking around at them all.

They shook their heads or looked at her blankly.

“A curse,” Daphne said pointedly.

“A curse that could make magical creatures go mad?” Aiden asked with a frown, “Is that even possible?”

“Of course it’s possible,” Daphne replied. She took a sip of her coffee, “Anything is possible if you’ve got enough nerve, or in this case – magical power. If it is a curse, it’s an old one and a blood-bound one I suspect.”

“Blood-bound?” Ben asked.

“Like Pandora’s box,” Owen perked up, “Right?”

“Right,” Daphne said with a smirk, “You know your curses, huh?”

Owen blushed, “Uh…” he scratched his ear, “Uh, yeah. I used to read books about old curses for you know…uh light, reading.”

Daphne nodded and cocked her head at him.

“Owen, right? You’re Sadie’s little cousin?”

“Yeah, I’m me – I mean, that’s me,” Owen said quickly, “I’m Sadie’s cousin.”

Daphne smiled in amusement at him, “Pandora’s box was a blood-bound curse, you’re right. A blood-bound curse can only be activated by someone who shares the same blood as the person who cast it.”

“So it’s like the chamber of secrets then?” Terry asked.

“No, it’s nothing like the chamber of secrets,” Daphne replied bluntly.

Terry raised an eyebrow at her.

“Only a parseltongue could open the chamber of secrets, and yes - in theory, they are all descended from Slytherin. Still, old Salazar didn’t account for some lunatic splitting his soul up and accidentally chucking a part of it into an innocent baby, did he?”

“How could anyone account for that?” Aiden asked with an amused smile.

“A centaur could,” Daphne smirked, “They are very good seers. All the same, the chamber of secrets was opened by Harry who is not a descendant of Slytherin so no Terry, it’s not like that.”

“Right,” Aiden said, “You’ve gone off-topic. If this is a blood-bound curse then it has to be bound by an object, doesn’t it?”

“Yes,” Daphne answered, “The curse was on Pandora’s box, but only someone of Pandora’s bloodline could open the box and unleash the curse. Although in this case, I doubt the nature of the curse is useful to you.”

“It isn’t useful at all. An old pureblood family will have placed the curse. Since they are all connected by marriage and inbreeding, virtually anyone with pure blood in this room could probably unleash the curse,” Ben pointed out, “Sorry Daphne, please don’t ice me.”

Daphne smirked at him.

“Good to see that I haven’t lost my crown.”

Ben grinned at her, “Never.”

“You should be terrified of me, I was in fifth year when you walked into our common room like a shivering little urchin,” Daphne pointed out.

“True,” Ben agreed, “But I was also in third year when you were a badass bitch fighting against the Death Eater regime and snogging Weasley’s in broom closets.”

Daphne held out her hand to him.

“I have no idea how you know about that but fair play to you – it is nice to meet another true Slytherin every once and a while.”

Ben smirked and shook her hand silently.

Owen frowned, “Wait…the only Weasley at school during the war was Ginny.”

“Uh-huh,” Daphne agreed, “Your point?”

Owen looked at Daphne in disbelief.

“But she was…”

“Harry’s girlfriend at the time and I’m his wife now? Yes, relationships in our friend group are complicated,” Daphne said with a wave of her hand, “Hey Aiden, do you want me to have a look into this and see if there’s a history of magical creatures losing it?”

“Get your head together with Theo if you want,” Aiden replied, “He’s been looking into it for the last week.”

Daphne rolled her eyes.

“No wonder you aren’t getting anywhere. I’ll head into his office on my way out,” she glanced at the clock, “How long do Harry’s appraisals usually last?”

“Not this long,” Ben said, his eyes also on the clock, “But I get the impression he doesn’t like Roger Davies much so he’s probably grilling him pretty hard.” 

Daphne smirked, “Oh yeah, I forgot you said it was Roger – I’ll definitely wait.”

“Do you have a history with him too?” Terry asked dryly.

“Not exactly,” Daphne replied evasively, “What happened with you and Kevin? I haven’t seen him in years.”

“He’s dating a muggle now,” Terry with a shrug, “We don’t talk anymore.”

“Hmm,” Daphne mused.

A door opened loudly in the corridor, and voices filled the hall. Daphne put her half-finished cup of coffee down on Harry’s desk and opened the door of the Homicide Office.

“Ah, there he is. Thanks for the company, boys.”

She slipped outside and waved to Harry. He smiled and said to Roger.

“Excuse me, Roger. It seems like my wife needs a word with me.”

Roger turned around and saw Daphne waiting by the Homicide Office. He smiled falsely at her.

“Daphne – how are you doing?”

“Great, thank you, Roger,” Daphne said politely, “How is your father?”

“Much better but still weak from the bout of pox,” Roger replied, “How is yours?”

“Bitter, twisted and manipulative,” Daphne said with a teasing smile, “The same as ever.”

Roger laughed, “He always was a sly old dog. Do you remember when he and my father would meet up for business, and we would play in the rose gardens behind the manor?”

Daphne nodded, “Yes, it seems like a long time ago.”

“It does,” Roger agreed, “We really ought to meet up for a coffee some time and catch up, Daphne.”

Daphne smiled at him, “I don’t think so, Roger. I know a marriage contract was thrown around in the air a long time ago, but I am spoken for now and if I’m honest – you couldn’t afford me.”

Harry bit back a grin at the affronted look on Roger’s face.

“Nice talking to you though,” Daphne chirped, stalking past him towards Harry.

Harry lowered his voice and murmured.

“You enjoyed that.”

“You didn’t?” Daphne quipped, raising an eyebrow at him.

Harry opened the door of his office and motioned inside.

“Oh, I did. I _really_ did.”

Daphne smirked and stepped into the office.

Harry shut the door behind her and said.

“Now, bearing in mind that Shep's office is just through that wall and that he spies on me via the painting of the eye behind my desk – why are you here?”

Daphne shot him an amused look.

“Not for a booty call, darling. We have children now; we’re past that point.”

“Are we?” Harry asked, raising an eyebrow at her, “Because I seem to remember a time involving a duelling platform in the not so distant past.”

“You were saying about your boss listening in?” Daphne pointed out.

“Yeah, he knows about that one,” Harry said with a sheepish grin, “I kind of bragged about it at poker night.”

“Of course you did,” Daphne said with a shake of her head, “I’m here to ask you very nicely if you would pick our son up from school today. I have a very exciting meeting with a man named Stanley, who is the best mould-remover on this side of London, apparently.”

Harry chuckled, “Sounds delightful and yes, of course, I will pick Teddy up, but you could have sent me a Patronus to say that.”

“I know I could have, but I was out and about,” Daphne said with a shrug, “And I wanted to pop in and talk to Theo about your tough case. I had a suspicion that it was a curse, but while I had your boys distracted, I confirmed my hunch.”

“What did you do?”

Daphne held up a case file and smirked.

“Daphne, that’s classified,” Harry said in disbelief, “You shouldn’t be reading it, and you definitely can’t take it out of the department.”

“I promise not to take it out of the department,” Daphne said sincerely, “I will take it to Theo’s office and then I’ll burn it with Theo as my witness.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Harry quipped, “Because as far as character witnesses go, Theo isn’t the most reliable.”

“Trust me,” Daphne said, kissing Harry on the cheek and smiling radiantly at him, “I’ll have your case cracked wide open before dinner time – love you, bye!”

Harry shook his head as she let herself out of his office. Seconds after she had left, the door to the adjoining office opened, and John popped his head out.

“You really have your work cut out for you, don’t you?”

“You have no idea,” Harry muttered, “I’m going to take a coffee break. Do you want a coffee break?”

John clicked his fingers, and one of the department house-elves appeared.

“Coffee please, Tikky,” John said politely.

The elf bowed and disappeared with a crack.

Harry raised an eyebrow at John.

“I meant by the machine in the break room.”

“I know you did, but I want to know why you just slammed Roger Davies into next week, and I don’t think that we should be discussing that in the breakroom,” John said pointedly.

“Well, I think he’s an entitled prat who isn’t anywhere near as good an Auror as he thinks he is,” Harry remarked.

“Yeah,” John agreed, “But there are a few entitled prats in this department, and there are more than a few people who aren’t anywhere near as good as they think they are. But you really went to town on him, and I know you, you don’t do that unless you’ve got history with someone.”

Harry shrugged in response as Tikky came back with the coffee.

John nodded to her in thanks and lifted his cup from the tray.

“Did he shag your wife?”

“No, but he wants to,” Harry muttered irritably.

John raised an eyebrow at him.

“Harry, I hate to tell you this, but most of the guys – and some of the girls – in this department want to shag your wife.”

Harry shot his boss a long-suffering look, but John didn’t relent.

“What’s your deal with Roger?”

“You know about the fake future Caroline showed me, right?” Harry asked his boss.

“I know she used an Alternatis Mundi potion on you and that it was effective,” John confessed, “The rest is between you and Caroline.”

“Well, in that fake future where I died, Daphne remarried,” Harry explained.

“Ah,” John said knowingly, “And I can guess who she married.”

“And the icing on the top of the cake was that _he_ was the Head Auror,” Harry muttered, “Him, honestly? Can you believe it? He’s a paper pusher, an arse kisser and a general slimy bastard.”

“As unbelievable as it is that he was Head Auror, you can’t take out your frustration on him,” John said with an amused smile, “It didn’t happen, it wasn’t real.”

“No, but the fact he married her in the fake future means he’s into her,” Harry pointed out, “And as you pointed out, I am a little possessive when it comes to my incredibly wonderful wife who is far too attractive for me.”

John shot him a smirk.

“Your wife, who just came in here and flirted with you. You’ve been married for five years, and you have four children, but the fire is still burning – count your lucky stars and stop expecting every pureblood that she smiles at to whisk her away.”

Harry opened his mouth to object then made a face.

“Damn you, that’s actually good advice.”

John chuckled and leant against the doorway.

“Do me a favour with your next appraisal?”

Harry looked up at him.

“What’s that?”

“Go easy on Emma,” John said, glancing down at Emma Dobbs’ file which was sitting open on Harry’s desk.

“I was planning on it,” Harry promised John, “She’s been through enough this year. If anything, I’m more interested in finding out how she’s doing after what happened with Lucia than I am in appraising her.”

John smiled and said.

“And that’s why Jack wanted it to be you who took over. He saw himself in you, did you know that?”

Harry shook his head, “No, but I respected him a hell of a lot.”

“He was proud of you,” John said with a sad smile, “You reminded him of James but with every record you broke, you made him proud.”

Harry smiled sadly, “Thanks, Shep. I know we’ve not talked about him much, but it’s just easier not to, isn’t it?”

“At the moment,” John agreed, “But as time goes on, talking about him fondly won’t hurt quite as much.”

Harry swallowed and nodded.

“Yeah,” he agreed absentmindedly.

“Keep up the good work, Harry,” John said, patting Harry on the shoulder and heading back into his office.

* * *

Daphne walked into Theo’s office without knocking, and Theo jumped out of his skin. He was sitting on the edge of his chair with his wand held against a wooden block. He slipped when she walked in and had to stop himself from tumbling to the ground.

Daphne smirked and looked around.

“So this is the closet that you’ve been hiding in for so long? It’s different to how I expected. I thought there would be more pictures of Draco.”

“Fuck off, Daphne,” Theo whined, “You nearly made me mess up my prototype.”

Daphne raised an eyebrow at him.

“What is that?”

“It’s a one-shot wand,” Theo muttered.

“You do realise you’re going to have to change the name if you want anyone to buy that, right?” Daphne asked sarcastically.

“Yes, one or two people might have pointed that out to me,” Theo said, regaining his composure and leaning back in his comfortable chair, “Why are you here?”

“To help you,” Daphne remarked.

“With?” Theo asked.

“This,” Daphne said, dropping the file onto his desk, “It’s a curse.”

Theo’s eyes widened.

“Shit, of course, it is! It’s a blood-bound curse.”

“Uh-huh,” Daphne said calmly, “Which means that it must have happened in the past – probably more than once. If you’ve been looking into this all week, why haven’t you found any instances of magical creatures rising against humans? There have been hundreds of rebellions in recent years.”

“Yes, but never all at once,” Theo pointed out, “There were the goblin wars, but no other magical creatures were involved. Then there were the werewolf protests which the vampires took our side on and then the vampire protests which the werewolves took our side on.”

Daphne frowned, “Hmm, good point.”

“Thank you,” Theo said, raising an eyebrow at her, “Do you think I’ve just been sitting around twiddling my thumbs for the past week?”

“Did I say that?” Daphne quipped, “I just think that we ought to work together on this one. With your brains and my knowledge of curses, we could do it.”

“Name an occasion when you and I have worked well together in the past,” Theo said sceptically.

“The war?” Daphne pointed out.

“Only when Draco’s life was at risk because we both cared about getting him out,” Theo reminded her.

Daphne raised an eyebrow at him.

“Oh, give up, Theo. Draco was gone for long periods and who ran that little rebellion of ours while he was gone?”

Theo sighed, “We did.”

“We make a good team,” Daphne said, “My baby cousin and me.”

“I’m two months younger than you,” Theo muttered irritably.

Daphne smirked and held out her hand.

“What do you say?”

“What do I get out of this?” Theo asked with narrowed eyes.

“The satisfaction of knowing that you saved innocent lives,” Daphne replied smoothly.

“Damn for you playing on the moral compass that I don’t want people to know I have,” Theo cursed.

* * *

Before he brought Emma in for her appraisal, Harry ducked into the Homicide Office.

“Hey guys,” he said, surveying the team warily, “What did she say to you?”

“Well – she outed Terry,” Jason remarked.

Harry frowned, “Oh, was that supposed to be a secret, Terry?”

“ _You_ knew?” Terry asked in disbelief.

“Uh yeah, I was on the Gryffindor Quidditch team in my first year, remember?” Harry said with a raised eyebrow, “And Kevin Bletchley was the Slytherin Keeper. You know how sound carries in changing rooms.”

“Right,” Terry said, clearing his throat awkwardly.

“I just thought you didn’t like to talk about yourself,” Harry admitted, “But either way, it’s not like any of us give a crap.”

“We’ve already told him that sir,” Jason remarked.

“Good,” Harry said with a smile, “But she didn’t tell you any embarrassing stories about me, did she?”

“Nah, just that she snogged Ginny Weasley,” Ben said with a smirk, “And watch out sir, I think Owen fancies her.”

“Fuck off,” Owen muttered under his breath.

“Mate, you couldn’t string two words together when she spoke to you,” Jason sniggered.

“Ah, don’t sweat it, Owen,” Harry said with a smile, “She had that effect on me when I first met her too.”

Aiden chuckled, “Your hunch about looking into dead werewolves was a good one,” he said, nodding his head towards the murder board.

Harry looked at it and frowned.

“Werewolves don’t form suicide pacts.”

“Funny, that’s what your wife said,” Aiden remarked, “Right before she told us that whatever is causing this is probably a blood-bound curse.”

“Yeah, she’s pretty smart,” Harry said with a knowing smile, “And sneaky. For example, while she was flirting with all of you and regaling you with stories of her time with Ginny Weasley, she copied and nicked our case file.”

“I knew she was doing that to be fair,” Ben said, “Because the flirting didn’t work on me and I’m perceptive, but I figured she might actually crack the case wide open so I let her.”

“Yeah, I didn’t take it off her for that exact reason,” Harry admitted, “She’s a good curse breaker, and if she can find out when this happened before, she’ll be handing us a solid lead which would be appreciated right now.”

Owen nodded, “She’s Bill Weasley’s protégé, so she’s a real asset.”

“I bet you think she is,” Jason teased.

“You can’t talk, Jace,” Harry snorted, “You shagged her sister.”

“Her younger, less attractive sister,” Ben added.

Owen shrugged, “I think they are both pretty attractive, personally.”

“Your standards are pretty low to be fair, Owen,” Ben smirked.

“Shut up, Benedict,” Owen retorted.

Harry chuckled, “Right so I better get back to the grindstone, but you lot seem to be doing fine without me anyway.”

He turned to leave, but before he could, Owen said.

“Sir?”

Harry turned around.

“Yeah?”

“Did your girlfriend really cheat on you with the girl who became your wife?” Owen blurted out.

Harry laughed loudly at that.

“No, Ginny wasn’t my girlfriend. We split up before the war and sort of agreed to wait for each other but then didn’t for reasons outwith our control.”

“Is that code for ‘I slept with Draco’s wife’?” Terry asked dryly.

“Yeah,” Harry confessed sheepishly, “And Ginny had someone else too – not Daphne, I hasten to add. That was just a one-broom-closet thing.”

Jason snorted in amusement.

“Curiosity satisfied, Owen?”

“Yeah,” Owen said with a sheepish grin, “Sorry, sir.”

“Hey, curiosity is a good trait in this job,” Harry said simply, “See you guys later!”

The door swung shut behind him.

Ben said, “Well, hasn’t this been a dramatic morning?”

“Quite,” Terry said, “And the news about me will go around the department like wildfire now so Ben, you’re going to have to find somewhere else to live.”

Ben didn’t question it; he knew why – when people found out Terry was gay, they would make assumptions based on the fact Ben was staying with him right now.

“Right,” Ben said, grimacing at the thought that passed through his mind, “Oh, I’m going to have to grovel to my Dad.”

“You can crash with me if you want,” Owen said, “It’s nothing fancy, just a couch which is technically in my bedroom because it’s a studio flat, but you’re welcome to it.”

Ben blew out a sigh of relief, “Thank you for saving me from a terrible fate. How come your living in a studio?”

“My Uncle cut my Dad off when he married a Muggle,” Owen replied, “So we don’t have much money, and it’s all I can afford to rent on our basic pay as Juniors.”

“If we put our heads together, I bet we can find a decent two-bed flat somewhere on the outskirts of London,” Ben said, “Assuming you can handle living with me long-term, that is.”

Owen chuckled, “I’ll give you a week, and then I’ll make that decision.”

“I’m a great flatmate,” Ben said with a grin, “I do pancakes on the weekend, and I clean.”

Owen shook his head in amusement and looked over at Aiden.

“Right, what next?”

* * *

Harry did Emma’s appraisal, which went about as well as he had expected. She pretended to be okay, he asked a couple of probing questions, and she burst into tears. Harry hugged her, and it all spilt out – how she thought it was her fault for not realising that Lucia was evil, how she was throwing herself into undercover work to repent for that.

Harry made her a hot cup of tea and took her off active duty temporarily with strict orders to go to Caroline. Emma nodded and thanked Harry tearfully before leaving his office.

His appraisal with Aiden went far better. Aiden was a brilliant Auror, so the appraisal part took ten minutes, and they then spent the following ten chatting and drinking coffee.

Harry’s final appraisal of the day was with Jack Gibson who had just been promoted out of Arson, so they spent some time talking about how he was settling in at Vice then Harry shut up shop for the day and decided to swing by Theo’s office before heading home.

_Knock. Knock._

“Come in!” Theo called.

Harry stepped inside, and before he could so much as say hello, Theo said, “Are you here to assault me like your wife did earlier?”

Harry raised an eyebrow at him.

“She assaulted you?”

“She just walked in here _without_ knocking and acted like she was the bloody queen,” Theo muttered irritably, “Then she tricked me into helping her solve _your_ case.”

“How did she do that exactly?” Harry asked curiously.

“By using my moral compass,” Theo admitted grudgingly.

“The one you pretend you don’t have?” Harry quipped.

“Exactly!” Theo said.

Harry chuckled, “Well I think between the two of you, you might crack that case wide open, and with Homicide currently being two Aurors down, we need all the help that we can get.”

“I know,” Theo confessed.

“How is Draco?” Harry asked.

“He’s okay, just tired,” Theo answered, “I don’t think he appreciated me bursting into his bedroom this morning to show him that I could wandlessly turn the lights on and off again though.”

Harry chuckled, “His magic is okay though?”

“It’s fine,” Theo replied, “It just took more out of him than Bill or I thought that it would. He needs rest, but he’ll be fine.”

“Good,” Harry said, nodding and sitting down on the edge of his desk, “Because I wanted to talk to you about what happened last night.”

Theo frowned, “Okay?”

“Draco shared his magic with you to stabilise your magical core,” Harry said, “So if someone had a weak magical core, one that kept flickering in and out – sharing magic would work to fix it?”

“Uh, maybe?” Theo answered, “It’s all down to individual circumstances. It’s a matter of balance though, I guess. It would take someone with a lot of magical power to fix a magical core with hardly any but even then – it would be draining.”

“Right,” Harry said with a frown, “And what about cracked magical cores? What do you know about them?”

“That they are harder to fix,” Theo confessed, “Even Bill said that there’s not much you can do about a cracked magical core.”

“You can bind magic though,” Harry pointed out.

Theo frowned, “Harry, magic binding is difficult at best and dangerous at worst. What’s going on here?”

Harry sighed, “Alastor – the nature of his birth, the length of time his mother left him outside on those cold steps…his magical core is cracked, and as he gets older, he loses more and more magic. At this rate, he has a year and then it will be gone.”

“He’ll be a squib,” Theo realised.

Harry nodded.

Theo looked at Harry for a moment, not quite sure what to do or say. Then he walked around the desk and hugged Harry.

Harry was taken aback because Theo wasn’t one for a show of emotions like that generally. It was different between him and Draco, but with Harry, he didn’t show how he felt. After a few seconds, Harry hugged Theo back.

“I’m sorry,” Theo said when he pulled back from the hug.

Harry cleared his throat; Theo’s show of friendship left him feeling oddly moved.

“He’s our son, regardless, but if there was anything I could do to help him – I would do it.”

“I know you would,” Theo said honestly, “Because we all would. We would move the earth for our kids if we could Harry, but this? This is the worst part of being a parent. This is seeing something wrong with your child that you desperately want to fix but knowing that no one _can_ fix it.”

Harry swallowed and nodded.

“Yeah, it…it makes you feel powerless, and it’s not often that I feel that way, Theo.”

“I understand feeling powerless more than you would think,” Theo said with a sad smile, “I lived without magic while Lucia held me captive and it’s only now – months later – that I finally feel somewhere close to my old self again.”

“You’ve done great to come through all that you did,” Harry assured him, “You really should be proud of yourself.”

Theo shrugged, “I’m sorry I can’t help you more with Alastor.”

“Like you said,” Harry said sadly, “There are some things that we just can’t fix.”

* * *

Daphne had her meeting with Stanley – the mould expert as he had called himself in his advert in the Prophet. She had to give him his due, he certainly knew a lot about mould but by Merlin, was he a boring old fart. After he had wasted nearly an hour of her time detailing his ways of removing mould on different surfaces depending on how porous they were, she hired him and swung by the bank to chat to Bill.

He was finishing up for the day when she got there.

“Hey, how did it go?”

“Stanley _is_ an expert mould remover,” Daphne remarked dryly, “But he is also incredibly boring. I dread to think how many of my brain cells died in the last hour.”

Bill snorted and grabbed his coat.

“Walk you out of the alley?”

Daphne nodded and fell into step with him.

“He reckons it will take between a week and two weeks to get the place ready for renovation.”

“And the cost?” Bill asked.

“Covered by the start-up grant from Greengrass Industries,” Daphne replied with a smile.

“Perfect,” Bill said cheerfully, drawing his cloak closer to his body as they stepped out into the chilly November afternoon.

Daphne walked by his side, her hands in her pockets and her high heeled boots clicking against the cobbles.

“Bill, do you know if anyone can fix a cracked magical core?”

Bill frowned, “What makes you ask that?”

Daphne shrugged, “I’m just curious.”

Bill looked unconvinced.

“Just curious about a particular issue with magical cores that usually results in complete loss of magic?”

Daphne nodded, “Yep.”

Bill shot her a sideways look.

“Yes, cracked magical cores can be fixed but not easily. A half-full magical core like Theo’s was stabilised relatively easy but to stabilise a cracked magical core? That’s a whole other kettle of fish.”

“Why?” Daphne asked.

“Because you have more than one problem at play,” Bill answered, “The magical core is depleted, _and_ it is cracked. A cracked magical core _can_ fix itself, but it takes years so you would need to top it up and then bind the persons magic.”

“So you can do it?” Daphne asked.

“At a cost,” Bill said, his eyes meeting hers, “How low is this person’s magic?”

“Pretty low,” Daphne replied, “Within a year, it will be gone.”

Bill sighed, “Nobody can top up up a magical core that low through magic sharing, Daphne. Someone with a blood connection would have to give them some of their magic.”

Daphne frowned, “You can’t give someone magic.”

“Yes, you can,” Bill said, he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her into one of the closes, “In the same way you can share magic, you can give it, but we don’t talk about it because nobody wants to give their magic away. Another person can’t steal it, not like the pureblood supremacists think because the only way is for the person giving the magic to consent fully.”

Daphne swallowed and refused to meet Bill’s eye.

“It would kill you,” Bill said quietly, “Do you hear me? The amount of magic required to get his magical core even half full, it would kill you.”

Daphne looked up sharply.

“How do you…”

“His birth mother, she abandoned Alastor as a baby - he never had proper medical care after birth,” Bill said softly, “And from the way you’re talking, it’s obvious that this concerns one of your children.”

Daphne sighed, “It’s possible though, Bill. That’s what you’re saying, isn’t it?”

“It’s possible if someone with immense magical power doesn’t mind losing some of it,” Bill said, his hand still gripping her wrist tightly, “But as wonderful as you are, that person isn’t you. Magic sharing and in this case, magic giving – it’s all about balance. It would take someone incredibly powerful to top up a magical core that weak.”

“Someone like Harry,” Daphne said quietly.

Bill nodded, “And would you ask him to do that?”

“I wouldn’t have to,” Daphne said, her eyes meeting Bill’s, “As soon as I told him it was an option, he would volunteer.”

Bill sighed and let go of her wrist.

“I hate how right you are.”

“How much magic would it take?” Daphne asked, her eyes searching Bill’s, “Tell me the truth.”

“It’s hard to say without seeing both magical cores,” Bill admitted, “But I know from that time I taught you and Harry how to share magic that Harry’s is over-flowing. He would need to top Alastor’s magical core up to just over half and then at that precise moment; somebody would have to bind Alastor’s magic which would leave him with a physical mark.”

“Like Harry’s scar?” Daphne asked.

“Sort of, that’s a mark left by dark magic,” Bill answered, “It would be more like the sigils that Harry and Neville have. Blood magic, whether that’s binding or otherwise – it marks a person.”

Daphne nodded.

Bill continued, “If his magical core fixed itself as he grew older, somebody could undo the spell which would remove the mark as well. After that, his magical core would be able to fill itself up properly. Until then, though, he would never be the best or the most powerful wizard.”

“But he could do basic magic? He could go to Hogwarts?” Daphne asked.

Bill nodded.

“Then it’s worth a shot, isn’t it?” Daphne asked desperately.

“Honestly? That’s between you and Harry,” Bill answered.

Daphne nodded anxiously.

“I know,” she said, biting her lip at the very thought of starting that conversation with her husband, “I know it is.”

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	49. I'd Give You Blood If It Would Be Enough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Potters continue to search for a way to help their son and Charlie does something typically reckless, again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:  
> For What It’s Worth by Liam Gallagher.

“I’m home!” Daphne called when she stepped in out of the cold that night.

“We’re in the drawing-room!” Harry yelled from upstairs.

Daphne kicked off her shoes and hung up her coat then padded up to the drawing-room where Harry was hard at work.

She bit back a smile and said, “There are builders who are employed to do that sort of work, love.”

Harry shot her an amused look from the top of his ladder, “What do I need a builder for? I’m good at getting my hands dirty, and I’ve got my little apprentice here.”

“I’m holding the ladder, Mum!” Teddy said eagerly.

“I can see that, darling,” Daphne said, the smile she had been biting back slipping onto her face.

Teddy was indeed holding the ladder, and Harry was standing atop it. They had discussed turning a corner of the drawing-room into a playroom so that they could spend more time together as a family. Harry had put the stud walls up by himself which had impressed Daphne enough, but now he was adding artistic touches – at this present moment in time, it was a slide that came out of the playroom into the drawing-room.

“Right, Ted, not long now,” Harry said, “Just two more bolts.”

Daphne shook her head in amusement and looked over at Alastor and Andrea, who were making a mess of themselves with crayons and paint at the table where Teddy usually did his homework.

“Where’s Thea?” Daphne asked as Harry finished and descended the ladder.

“Lilly took her out for a walk,” Harry replied, “Apparently frequent light exercise reduces the risk of pre-eclampsia.”

“So she’s using our daughter to make sure she has a seamless labour?” Daphne asked with an amused grin.

“In essence, yes, but Thea was screaming, and I wanted to get some work done so I didn’t argue,” Harry admitted, “What do you think?”

“I think it’s awesome, Dad!”

“It is pretty awesome, Teddy,” Daphne agreed, she popped her head inside and smiled. It was, in essence, a small soft-play area and the slide was the final touch.

“We’re going to paint it tomorrow afternoon, aren’t we buddy?” Harry asked Teddy.

“Yeah, Dad said I could help,” Teddy said, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“Good thing Dad is so good with his cleaning spells then,” Daphne said, smiling at her husband, “It’s brilliant, Harry. Thank you.”

Harry crossed the gap and kissed her lightly.

“You’re welcome. I suppose I better go and find our youngest daughter before dinner though, don’t you think?”

“Probably for the best,” Daphne chuckled.

Harry shot her a grin and left the room, and Daphne’s stomach sank as she thought about the conversation she knew they needed to have later that evening.

* * *

The moment Daphne handed Harry a cup of coffee – he knew something was wrong.

Harry frowned at her.

“You made me coffee?”

Daphne nodded and perched on the edge of the kitchen table.

“Yes, I did.”

“ _You_ made it,” Harry re-iterated, “Not a house elf – you?”

Daphne sighed.

“You never make me coffee,” Harry said warily, “You complain that it disgusts you to put that much sugar into such a fine drink. You say it’s an insult to coffee.”

“Yes, I know I do,” Daphne said shortly.

Harry took a cautionary sip of his coffee.

“Who did you kill? Or who are you going to kill?”

“Nobody,” Daphne remarked, “But you and I do need to talk.”

“I gathered that,” Harry admitted, “What’s going on?”

Daphne bit her lip and looked Harry in the eye.

“What if I told you there might be a way to help Alastor?”

“There isn’t,” Harry said quietly, “I spoke to Theo about it today, and he said that nobody could fix cracked magical cores.”

“Nobody else can,” Daphne agreed, “They need to heal from the inside. But to heal, they need to be at least half full.”

Harry frowned, “Who told you that?”

“Bill and, no offence to Theo, but I’m more inclined to take his advice on this one,” Daphne admitted.

“Yeah,” Harry agreed, “Go on.”

“A cracked magical core can heal itself, but it takes years,” Daphne informed him, “So it would need to be topped up with enough magic for him to function on and then his magic would need to be bound.”

“I thought binding magic was risky,” Harry said.

“It is,” Daphne admitted, “If done wrongly…well, it’s a direct link to an obscurial.”

Harry’s eyes darkened, “And you want to risk that? With our son? You said yourself that magical or not; he’s as special as the other three.”

“I just want to give him a normal life,” Daphne confessed, “If there is any way to do that, I would Harry. If I could ensure that he would grow up feeling equal to his siblings if I could ensure that he could go to Hogwarts like the rest of them… I would do anything to give him that.”

“But not at _his_ expense,” Harry said.

“Magic binding is only risky if done by someone who doesn’t know what they are doing,” Daphne promised Harry, “A Healer could do it. They train them on how to bind magic because if they have a patient who is losing control of theirs, they need to bind it for their own safety.”

“Lilly can’t do it,” Harry said instantly, “I won’t let her.”

“Do you really think I would?” Daphne asked in disbelief, “She’s my best friend, I would never put her in danger. I love my children, and I will always do the best I can for them but not at Lilly’s expense.”

“I know, and I’m sorry,” Harry said with a sigh, “This information is just overwhelming.”

Daphne nodded, “I understand because I feel the same, but if there’s something we can do, I feel like we ought to try at least.”

“Okay, let’s brainstorm this out,” Harry said, putting down his coffee cup, “Let’s say we get a Healer to help us out – probably Clara because Lilly and Ginny are both pregnant.”

Daphne nodded again.

“In theory, that Healer can bind Alastor’s magic once his magical core is topped up and then what?”

“Then he heals,” Daphne said, “Over time of course.”

“And he has enough magic in his magical core to sustain him as an adult,” Harry said, looking his wife in the eye, “When he’s older, that won’t feel like enough. He’ll feel weak; he won’t be able to manage the more complex spells.”

Daphne opened her mouth to speak, but Harry shook his head and continued.

“But what about right now? Right now, when he is a three-year-old boy, that amount of magic will feel immense, and he has no idea how to control it.”

Daphne shut her mouth because, in all honesty, she hadn’t thought about that.

“I want to help him too, Daphne,” Harry promised, taking her hands in his own, “Merlin, I want to help him so much but binding his magic completely then unleashing it when he turned 11? That _would_ make him an obscurial.”

Daphne didn’t say anything.

“There’s a chance we could teach him how to control it, but he would have to be tutored very carefully,” Harry continued, “He would need someone who understands the level of control he would have to have over his magic, over his own mind even.”

Daphne looked up, realising where Harry was going with this.

“Narcissa?”

Harry nodded, “If she agreed to help then in theory – this could work.”

Daphne swallowed, she felt sick.

“There…there’s more to it than that, though.”

Harry didn’t look surprised; he just raised an eyebrow.

“Okay.”

“Magic sharing won’t work,” Daphne confessed, “Because of the nature of his magical core and his age, his magic won’t restore itself. The only way for it to work is for someone to give him their magic.”

Harry frowned, “I didn’t know that was possible.”

“It’s done in the same way that magic sharing is,” Daphne explained, “But it’s very rare, and it’s seldom talked about because it’s the theory that pureblood extremists use to explain how Muggle-borns stole magic.”

Realisation dawned on Harry’s face.

“Right, I see.”

“But it’s a lot of rubbish,” Daphne added, “Because nobody can steal magic, you have to give it willingly. I would do it myself in a heartbeat, Harry but-”

“But I would never let you,” Harry said darkly.

“Because I’m so much weaker than you?” Daphne retorted irritably.

“Yes,” Harry answered, “You’re a great witch, Daphne, but we all know that our magical power is tied into our health. Dumbledore and Grindelwald lived for so long because of how powerful they were, and that’s the same thing I’m cursed with.”

Daphne said nothing.

“I don’t want that,” Harry admitted, looking at her, “You’re powerful, but not anywhere near as powerful as I am. Do you think I want to go on living for 20, 30, 40 years after you’re dead and buried? Because I don’t.”

“So you want to give Alastor your magic so we can die together?” Daphne asked. Harry had expected to hear scepticism in her voice, but she had just spoken very softly.

“If it’s how I give Al a better life and it also means that I don’t have to go on without you then I see that as a win-win situation,” Harry confessed.

Daphne blew out a breath of relief and took a couple of steps towards Harry. He pulled her in and rested his chin on her head.

“Let’s look into it properly and get another couple of opinions first though, okay? Starting with Lilly as our residential Healer.”

“Okay,” Daphne said softly, “And Harry?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you.”

* * *

When Charlie walked into Caroline’s office on Wednesday evening, he was surprised to find her crying.

She looked up sharply and grabbed a tissue when the door opened.

“Sorry,” Charlie grimaced, “I should have knocked.”

“It’s okay,” Caroline said, she dabbed her eyes, “It’s my fault – I forgot about our appointment.”

Charlie walked over to her.

“Is it okay if I join you on the therapy chair?”

“Chaise longue,” Caroline sniffed.

Charlie took that as a yes and sat down next to her.

“Is everything okay?”

Caroline nodded and cast a glamour charm on herself – removing the tear streaks but leaving a slight redness in her eyes.

“I’m fine, don’t worry. Just let me get a cup of coffee, and we can get on with our meeting.”

Charlie grabbed her wrist to stop her from walking away.

“Hey – sometimes therapists need someone to talk to as well, remember?”

Caroline smiled weakly, “As sweet as that is, I’m fine. It’s just a difficult day for me today. My mother died 12 years ago to the day. I know it’s stupid to cry about something that happened so long ago, but every year I do.”

“It’s not stupid,” Charlie promised, his hand moving from her wrist to her hand, “I don’t think a year will go by when I won't spend a chunk of May 2nd in tears.”

Caroline swallowed hard and nodded.

“I find that day difficult too.”

“Course you do,” Charlie said softly, “You lost Eddie.”

Caroline looked up at him, tearfully.

“You remind me of him so much, Charlie,” she confessed.

Charlie didn’t know what he should say to that. He floundered for a moment then the words, “I’m sorry,” fell out of his mouth.

Caroline laughed weakly.

“Don’t be sorry. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just…” she trailed off and ran her hand down the side of his face, “It’s strange.”

Charlie met her eye, “Yeah?”

Caroline nodded, her eyes meeting his.

“Surreal,” she said quietly.

They held each other’s gaze for what felt like hours. Charlie wanted to kiss her, but he was mentally slapping himself because he knew that doing so would be a bad idea. A part of him wondered if this was all a test that Caroline set up for him, but he knew the look in her eyes – that was lust, and nobody could fake that.

Caroline sealed the deal before Charlie’s resolve could break. She closed the small gap between them and the moment her soft lips touched his; he knew he was done for. The little voice in his head that told him when something was morally wrong (which he liked to call his inner Percy) yelled at him, but then Caroline’s hand moved from his cheek to his hair as she deepened the kiss.

_Fuck it_ ; he thought to himself before he silenced his inner Percy.

* * *

Bill was alone in the wolf cave when Charlie slunk in.

“Hey,” He called cheerfully, “How was your therapy meeting?”

Charlie groaned in response and kicked a chair over.

Bill raised an eyebrow at him.

“That bad?”

“I’m such a useless piece of shit!” Charlie exclaimed.

“Woah, rewind,” Bill said, abandoning the broomstick he was working on, “You are not a useless piece of shit. What happened?”

“I slept with her!” Charlie said furiously, “I’ve spent weeks practising self-control, _weeks Bill_ , and then she kisses me-”

“Woah, woah – go back to the beginning,” Bill said calmly.

Charlie took a deep breath.

“She was upset because her mother died 12 years ago today so I was being a good friend and telling her it was okay to still feel sad. Then she told me that I reminded her of her dead husband and then she was kissing me and I just…I sucked.”

“You didn’t put up a fight at all, did you?” Bill asked.

Charlie shook his head, miserably.

“No, I just ignored the little voice in my head telling me not to do it, and the next thing I knew, I was screwing her on the therapy chair.”

“Thanks for that highly disturbing visual,” Bill remarked dryly.

Charlie threw himself into a moth-eaten armchair.

“I hate myself.”

“You could have put a stop to it, you know?” Bill pointed out, “You could have said no, you could have pulled away and walked out at any point. Or you could have at least tried to fight your natural impulse to fuck anything hot that moves.”

Charlie glared at him.

"So it’s all my fault, is it?”

“Well she was vulnerable when she kissed you, and you didn’t exactly discourage her by the sounds of it,” Bill said bluntly.

Charlie scoffed and got to his feet.

“Fine if that’s how you’re going to be then I’m going to talk to my favourite brother.”

Bill snorted, “Like you’ll get any sense out of George.”

“I’m not talking about George,” Charlie snapped as he walked to the door.

“Percy’s even more judgemental than me!” Bill called after him.

“I’m talking about Harry, you jackass!” Charlie snapped, slamming the door shut behind him for good measure.

“Of course you are,” Bill muttered to himself, “You’ll sit in his creepy little snake cabin while you bond with him.”

“I heard that!”

“Screw you!”

“Screw you more!”

Charlie apparated away so that he could say that he had gotten the last word.

“Arsehole,” Bill cursed.

* * *

Charlie, having been Daphne’s brother-in-law for several years, was pretty comfortable in Potter Manor. As such, he let himself in and walked into the kitchen where he wasn’t surprised to find Daphne.

“Hey, Charlie,” She said in surprise, “What brings you here?”

“I need to talk to Harry,” Charlie said miserably, “Is he outside?”

“Yeah, he’s in the snake cabin,” Daphne replied, “What happened to you?”

“I slept with my motherfucking therapist!” Charlie snapped, kicking over a bin in the process, “My therapist who is meant to be helping me with my sex problem, you know?”

Daphne looked from the upturned bin to the angry Weasley.

“Uh-huh.”

“Well she fucking threw herself at me so what did I do? I shagged her in her bloody office,” Charlie fumed, “And Bill’s a judgemental prick, so I need Harry.”

Before Daphne could say anything else, Charlie stormed out of the backdoor and headed across the darkened grounds to the snake cabin.

Daphne shook her head and pointed her wand at the bin.

“Reparo.”

The bin turned itself the right way around, and all of the contents flew back in.

“Weasley’s,” Daphne scoffed as she put the kettle on.

* * *

Harry expected Daphne to storm in and be annoyed with him when he heard the door to the snake cabin open loudly. As such, he was pretty surprised when Charlie walked into the main room where he was currently feeding the snakes some live rats.

“Hey,” Charlie said, sighing and sitting down.

“Hi,” Harry returned, “You wanna feed some rats to Betsy?”

“Sure,” Charlie said miserably. He took the bag of live rats and threw one at the snake Harry called Betsy.

“What brings you here in such a foul mood?” Harry asked curiously.

Charlie threw another rat at a snake that was advancing on him.

“I slept with my therapist.”

“You slept with Caroline?”

“Yeah,” Charlie replied, “I went home to Bill’s place afterwards cause I’m still staying there, and he was a judgemental prick, so I came to you instead.”

“Over every other one of your siblings?” Harry asked in surprise.

Charlie scoffed, “Yeah – because I can tell you right now how that would have gone down if I had tried to talk to any of the others…”

_“George, I slept with my therapist.”_

_George snorted and poked his head out of the storeroom of Weasley’s Wizards Wheezes, “Cliché, but typical for you Charlie. Hey, you wanna try out this new product? It turns your brain to mush so you can get out of doing an exam.”_

_“No,” Charlie muttered, “I want actual advice.”_

_“Stop sleeping with therapists?” George offered, “Oh look at this prototype-”_

_Charlie groaned, “Ugh, never mind George.”_

_* ~ ~ *  
_

_“Percy, I slept with my therapist.”_

_Percy narrowed his eyes, “Caroline?”_

_“Well, she’s my therapist so yeah.”_

_“Caroline Lamb has been through enough without you putting her through the wringer, Charlie!” Percy snapped, “She lost her husband, and she’s a single mother who works her arse off to help Aurors like myself.”_

_“Right, you’re way too protective over her, so I’m out of here,” Charlie shrugged._

_* ~ ~ *_

_“Ron, I slept with my therapist.”_

_“Nice,” Ron grinned, “Is she hot?”_

_“Yeah she’s hot, but that’s not the point – she’s my therapist. She’s meant to be teaching me how to stop sleeping with women younger than me, and she’s practically your age so don’t you think that she kinda failed me?”_

_“Yeah, you need a new therapist, but at least you got a good shag out of that one, eh?”_

_“That is entirely unhelpful and also entirely unsurprising,” Charlie muttered as he walked away._

_* ~ ~ *_

_“Ginny, I slept with my therapist.”_

_“The therapist who is supposed to be helping you with your sex addiction?”_

_“Yeah, that one.”_

_“The one who's barely older than your kid brother?”_

_“Yeah, but listen it’s Astoria’s fault. She just up and left with no valid reason, so I started going to Caroline, but I miss Astoria, and Caroline reminds me of her-”_

_“Charlie,” Ginny cut in, “It’s not Astoria’s fault. She left you, she has her reasons for that even if nobody else knows what they are, but you can’t use her rejection to account for your shitty decisions. Astoria didn’t make you sleep with your therapist; you chose to do that.”_

_Charlie groaned and kicked a bin, “Becoming a lesbian made you a real judgemental cow, you know that?”_

_Ginny raised her wand, “I’m not a lesbian.”_

_“Really? Cause I bet Blanche would beg to differ on that subject-”_

_Before he could finish, a bat-bogey hex came flying at him._

“Yeah,” Harry mused, “Talking to your other siblings probably wouldn’t have ended well, you’re right.”

“You’re not judgemental,” Charlie said, sighing contently when a snake wrapped itself around his shoulders, “Not like Bill is. You should have heard him when I stormed out, _you and Harry go bond over your creepy love of snakes in the creepy snake cabin then Charlie_ , I swear he’s such a bitch.”

Harry snorted, “Yeah, I think Daphne would agree with you on that one.”

Charlie stroked the grass snake that had curled around him.

“You’re not creepy; you’re cute.”

Harry chuckled, “The fact we find animals that others fear cute is a little weird, you have to give Bill that though.”

“Eh, I suppose,” Charlie admitted grudgingly.

“Anyway,” Harry said, “You slept with Caroline, which implies that the therapy route wasn’t really working for you.”

“You think?” Charlie muttered.

“Why are you so angry about the fact you slept with her?” Harry asked curiously.

“Because I fucked up,” Charlie said as if this were obvious, “I caved so I’m pissed at myself for that and I did it for the wrong reasons. I like Caroline, she’s a nice girl, and I didn’t want to sleep with her because I knew I would only be doing it because she reminded me of Astoria.”

“You said she kissed you first though,” Harry pointed out.

Charlie nodded, “She said I reminded her of Eddie.”

Harry leant back and thought about that for a moment, “So maybe you both gave each other something that you needed? You don’t know that Caroline’s upset about it, do you?”

“No, I just sort of ran out like the arsehole that I am,” Charlie admitted.

“You can’t hide from her forever,” Harry pointed out, “We all run in the same circles.”

“I know.”

“You also need to get a handle on this,” Harry admitted, “The reason you wanted to come to me, the reason you knew I wouldn’t judge you is because I would be a hypocrite if I did.”

Charlie turned to look at him.

“I understand addiction, Charlie,” Harry said with a sad smile, “And yes, it’s a different sort of addiction but either way – the only way you will ever get over it is to get a handle on what’s causing it. For me, it was the war, and the moment I truly let go and stopped blaming myself for every death, I got better.”

“Then you relapsed,” Charlie said.

“When the war resurfaced in the form of Lucia,” Harry agreed with a nod, “Your addiction stems from heartbreak. You started using sex as a coping mechanism to make you feel better after Tonks broke up with you then you got a handle on it when you met Astoria. Now that Astoria has broken up with you, you’re relapsing.”

Charlie looked at him in amazement, “You wanna be my new therapist?”

“I don’t want you to shag me, so I’m going to pass,” Harry said, shooting him a grin.

Charlie laughed, “You’re right, though.”

“I know I am.”

“Trouble is I don’t know how I’m ever going to get over Astoria,” Charlie said, the smile on his lips dying, “I thought Dora was the one that got away but ever since Astoria left there’s just this gnawing, empty feeling in my gut. Even the dragons aren’t filling it, and I keep trying to find a place of my own to give Bill and Lara peace, but I end up apparating back to our old place to see if the for sale sign has been taken down yet.”

Harry nodded, “I get that, but it’s a high-value period property in the middle of nowhere, Charlie. It will be up for sale for a while before someone snaps it up. It’s not like a developer can just knock it down then do what they want with it.”

“I know,” Charlie said miserably.

“Honestly, if you miss Astoria that much, I think you need to talk to her,” Harry said thoughtfully, “Get a decent excuse out of her at least. Maybe it would make you feel better.”

“Do you know why she did it?” Charlie asked.

Harry shook his head, “I wish I did, I wish I had some answers for you. All I know is that she started to push everyone away about a year ago. Daphne thinks running the business got to her, but I don’t know…it was just like she gave up on maintaining her relationships with the people close to her.”

“I just wish I knew why.”

“I know you do,” Harry said, he patted him on the knee, supportively, “And I’m sorry that I don’t have the answers you want.”

Charlie sighed, “Don’t sweat it, Harry. It’s not like it’s your fault.”

Harry nodded, and the two men fell into a comfortable silence.

* * *

“Lil – where are you?” Daphne called from the entrance hall of Longbottom House.

A muffled answer came from upstairs, and Daphne heard enough of it to work out what was going on. She lazily conjured up a little play area for Alastor and Andrea then encased them in it with a cushioning charm.

“Be good, and I’ll be back really soon,” Daphne promised, “Look after your sister, Alastor.”

“I will,” Alastor promised.

Daphne smiled and headed upstairs with Thea (who was strapped to her chest in a baby carrier). She followed the thoroughly unpleasant sounds of retching to the bathroom on the same floor as Neville and Lilly’s bedroom.

The door was ajar, and as Daphne had expected, Lilly was leaning over the toilet.

“The joys of pregnancy, eh honey?”

Lilly groaned, “I am _never_ telling an expectant mother that morning sickness goes away after the first trimester again; it is a lie!”

Daphne smiled sympathetically.

“It has eased off though, hasn’t it?”

“A little bit,” Lilly replied, “And it’s not anywhere near as bad as Sadie’s.”

“Oh, she had it terribly,” Daphne agreed, “The poor girl spent most of her pregnancy in bed, remember?”

“I know,” Lilly said, pushing herself to her feet and grabbing her toothbrush.

“Is Nev out?” Daphne asked curiously.

Lilly nodded and began to brush her teeth.

“Diagon – supplies,” she said through the mouthful of toothpaste.

“Charming,” Daphne said with an amused smile.

Lilly spat out the toothpaste and said, “I’d curse at you if it weren’t for the baby on your chest.”

Daphne smirked, “Have you eaten anything today?”

“No, my stomach’s been churning from the moment I woke up,” Lilly sighed.

“Come on,” Daphne said, “Let’s get the elves to fix you some ginger tea and you should drink it outside. I know it’s cold, but it will help.”

“I trust you, you’re a veteran at this,” Lilly joked weakly.

Daphne laughed, “Hardly, I’ve only done it twice – same as Hermione.”

“You soared through pregnancy like a breeze though,” Lilly pointed out, “Sadie had the sickness, Hermione complained her way through it, and I just suck at every aspect of it.”

“You don’t suck – you’re growing twins and that makes you a superhero so be quiet and drink your ginger tea like I tell you to,” Daphne demanded.

Lilly rolled her eyes, “You’re worse than my mother.”

“Well, you always do call me the mother hen,” Daphne said with a smile.

“Did you put your kids in a cage?” Lilly snorted when they reached the entrance hall.

“No, I put them in a protective, cushioned bubble – honestly, what kind of mother do you take me for?” Daphne retorted, ending the enchantment with a wave of her wand, “Do you guys want to play outside?”

“Yeah!”

“Yay!”

Daphne chuckled and transfigured their cardigans into coats as they ran towards the backdoor.

“You’re so good at this,” Lilly said with a frown.

“You will be too,” Daphne promised her, “You are going to be great.”

Lilly didn’t look quite as convinced, but she didn’t say anything. They stepped outside, and Lilly raised her wand to perform a drying charm on the seats.

“Don’t,” Daphne said, pushing Lilly’s wand down and doing the charm herself, “Using magic makes the queasiness worse, which in turn leads to sickness.”

Lilly frowned, “What? No, it doesn’t. I’m a Healer; I’d know that.”

“I’ve had two babies in the last two years – trust me, it does,” Daphne said with a slight smile as she sat down on the porch.

Lilly sat down opposite her and sighed, “I thought I had all of the answers. I thought I’d sail through pregnancy like you did.”

“Stop comparing yourself to me,” Daphne said sternly, “You’re not me, you’re you. I’m a relatively small person who had two relatively small babies with the DNA of a relatively small man. You are tiny, and your husband is huge, you’re having twins – Neville sized twins with Neville sized appetites. You’re drained and exhausted; you cannot compare yourself to me.”

Lilly looked over at Alastor and Andrea, “I hadn’t thought of it like that,” she admitted.

“Apart from the sickness and the general fatigue, how are you feeling?” Daphne asked.

“Apart from those two energy-draining things, I’m fine and dandy,” Lilly replied sarcastically.

Daphne snorted as Lilly clicked her fingers and politely asked their house-elf for some ginger tea and an ordinary pot of tea.

“And some toast,” Daphne added, looking at Lilly, “The mistress of the house needs to keep her strength up.”

Lilly smiled at Daphne, “You are the mother hen.”

“And I own it,” Daphne smirked,

“You do,” Lilly agreed, “And you were right, you know? About how I was pissed off about being chucked in the training centre at first but then I would realise it was the right thing?”

“Uh-huh?

“I already realise that it was the right thing,” Lilly admitted, “I could not handle the 8-hour shifts I used to work, let alone the 12-hour ones.”

Daphne chuckled, “That was the joy of being a curse breaker, I could pick my own hours and sit at a desk doing paperwork for the rest of the day.”

Lilly nodded as the tea arrived. She sipped hers and made a face, “This stuff is disgusting.”

“I know, but it works,” Daphne shrugged.

Lilly said nothing; she just took another sip.

“While I’m here, can I pick your brains about something?” Daphne asked – her focus was on Alastor who was chasing after his sister with a stick.

“Yeah, go for it,” Lilly said.

Daphne pushed down the lump in her throat – Alastor and Andrea were playing Aurors and Death Eaters, and it hit Daphne at that moment that if they failed, they would have to start explaining to Al very soon that he wouldn’t be going to Hogwarts.

“Daphne,” Lilly said, seeing the tears in her best friend’s eyes, “Daphne?” she placed her hand on of the blond woman’s.

“Sorry,” Daphne said, clearing her throat and wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her top, “I just wondered if you knew any Healers experienced in magic-binding and if you did, how experienced are they?”

“Clara is one of the best I know,” Lilly answered, her eyes still full of concern, “Why?”

“Alastor is struggling,” Daphne said, unable to tear her eyes away from her son, “There’s a way to help him, but it involves binding magic and Harry worries about the risk of him becoming an obscurial.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that if you have a medical professional do it,” Lilly said softly, “Is this because of the nature of his birth?”

Daphne nodded, “You said it was a risk and we all knew it, but knowing it and seeing it happening…”

“Two very different things, I know,” Lilly said softly, “How much magic does he have?”

“Not much,” Daphne replied, “His magical core is cracked, so he’s leaking a little more magic every day.”

Lilly squeezed Daphne’s hand.

“Magical cores are tough to fix; you know that, don’t you?”

Daphne sighed and looked up at Lilly.

“We know the risks.”

Lilly’s eyes scanned hers.

“I presume Harry volunteered to give Alastor his magic?”

Daphne nodded, “He said I wasn’t powerful enough.”

“You aren’t,” Lilly confessed, “And although Harry is, if you intend on doing what I think you do – you will have to blood adopt Alastor.”

Daphne looked up, “Why? Harry is already related to him.”

“Magic sharing like that, _giving magic_ away like that, it’s risky,” Lilly admitted, “The risks decrease when the magic is shared between direct family.”

Daphne blew out a breath, “Great, just when I thought I had dropped all of the bombs on Harry’s head, another comes along.”

“Sorry,” Lilly said sheepishly.

“Don’t you be sorry, just drink your tea,” Daphne ordered with a weak smile.

* * *

Harry struggled to concentrate that morning. He had his four appraisals to get through, but once he finished, he intended on checking in on the Homicide team then going for a chat with Neville. When his head was buzzing like this, talking things through with Neville was one of the only things that helped.

The first appraisal of the day should have been Terry’s, but he was MIA that morning, so Harry took Victoria Hughes from Arson in first. By the time he finished, Terry still hadn’t appeared, so Harry had brought in Andrew Kirke from Organised Crimea and whizzed through his appraisal.

Harry had to admit, the fact that Terry still hadn’t come in after these two appraisals had him a little bit concerned, so he ducked into the Homicide Office.

“Anything from Terry, guys?”

Jason shook his head, “I’ve tried floo-ing him, but there’s no response.”

“And I’ve sent him a Patronus,” Draco added.

Harry frowned, “It’s not like him, to just not show up like this. Am I the only one whose getting bad vibes about this?”

“Nah, you’re not the only one, mate,” Ben said with a sigh, “It’s no coincidence that he accidentally came out to all of us yesterday, and now he disappears.”

“Especially not when you consider how his mother will take it,” Jason muttered.

“His mother?” Harry asked, “Who is his mother?”

“Well let’s put it this way, Harry – she’s a Bulstrode,” Draco remarked.

“Oh,” Harry realised, “Shit.”

“Yeah, but there’s nothing that we can do about it,” Draco said honestly, “If he needed a day to deal with family stuff, he should have asked for one.”

Harry sighed, “I hate to admit it, but you’re right. I’ve got one more appraisal to do, and after that, I’ll try his flat.”

The others nodded but said no more on the subject, so Harry brought Laura Madley from Fraud in for her appraisal. It didn’t take too long, and when he was letting her out of his office, the main door opened.

Terry walked in with a slight limp and Harry frowned.

“Higgs – my office now.”

Terry pulled himself up to his full height and walked into the office. Harry glanced around, glad that nobody had seen him walk in, then he shut the office door.

“Are you okay?” Harry asked the older man.

Terry frowned, “What?”

“Are you okay?” Harry asked slowly.

“Not ‘where the hell have you been all morning?’ or a verbal warning?” Terry asked in confusion.

“No, Terry because you just walked in here with a limp and a poorly concealed black eye so I will ask you this one last time,” Harry said calmly, “Are you okay?”

Terry sighed and sat down gingerly, his hand resting on his leg with a grimace.

“No.”

“Okay, that’s a good start,” Harry said. He pushed his desk out of the way and sat down opposite Terry with no furniture in between them.

Terry was still grimacing as he tried to stop his leg from shaking.

“Can I have a look?” Harry asked.

Terry just nodded and pulled his trouser leg up. Harry breathed in sharply when he saw a deep cut on Terry’s shin.

“I cleaned it out and sealed it as best I could,” Terry said quietly, “But my hand was shaking too much to stitch it up.”

“What happened?” Harry asked, summoning the first aid kit wandlessly.

“A poker,” Terry answered.

“And you mysteriously fell into that, did you?” Harry asked calmly as he numbed the wound, then cleaned it out with his wand.

Terry gritted his teeth.

“I might have had a little help from my mother.”

Harry had guessed as much.

“You told her?”

“I figured it would spread through the department quickly enough,” Terry said, “There’s no denying it now. Jason took me out for a pint last night, and he hit the nail on the head anyway. He said what’s the point in living in the dark and being comfortable but miserable when you could live in the light and feel a bit uncomfortable with the sun streaming into your eyes but be happy.”

Harry snorted, “That’s an elaborate metaphor.”

“He was right though,” Terry said.

“Yeah,” Harry agreed, beginning to sow the wound on Terry’s leg shut, “He is. Life is too short to spend it alone and miserable – take a look at Severus Snape’s life for further details.”

Terry shut his eyes and leant back in his chair.

“She tried to disown me, said I was a disgrace to the Bulstrode name, but what’s she got to be proud about? Her family cast her out when she fell in love with my Dad.”

“He was a muggle-born then?” Harry guessed.

Terry nodded, “Yeah, and while he was alive, she was a good person. When he died…I don’t know what happened to her.”

“Love changes people,” Harry said honestly as he thought about Daphne’s fate in the fake future, “When you love someone like that, it softens you and when you lose them – it destroys you. I suspect she became cold to stop herself from being hurt again; it happens more often than you would think.”

“People cut off their own kids because of their sexuality more often than you would think too,” Terry said darkly.

Harry finished wrapping the wound on Terry’s leg, and then he sat upright.

“I know they do.”

Terry sighed.

“Coffee?” Harry asked.

Terry just nodded, so Harry got to his feet and busied himself with making them both coffee. Once he was finished, he sat down behind his desk and sent Terry’s coffee hovering towards him.

“On the bright side, the appraisal that you nearly missed is great,” Harry said to cheer the older man up, “You’re ticking all of the boxes.”

“Good,” Terry said, “At least something in my life is going right.”

Harry smiled sympathetically at him.

“It will get better, Terry, I promise you that. Your mother might be reacting like this, but none of us are, and I learned a long time ago that the family we choose is often more important than the one we are born into. This right here? Our team in that office down there – that’s the family we choose.”

Terry managed a small smile at that.

“No wonder they gave you this job. With speeches like that, there’s no doubt you’re the next Jack Sumner.”

Harry chuckled at that.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he said with a proud smile.

* * *

When Lilly walked into the office attached to the hospital wing at the training centre to start her shift that afternoon, she frowned.

“Caroline?”

Caroline sniffed, “Uh-huh?”

“Are you crying over the coffee pot?”

“No,” Caroline said hoarsely. She cast a glamour charm and turned around, “I’m fine.”

Lilly gave her a sceptical look and hung her bag up.

“Like hell you are. Let’s try that again, shall we? Hi Caroline, are you okay?”

“No,” Caroline said tearfully.

Lilly shrugged her winter cloak off and hung it up, “What happened?”

“I did something I’ve never done before,” Caroline blurted out, “Something stupid, something I feel terrible about.”

Lilly shoved the cup of coffee that she had been crying into Caroline’s hands.

“What?”

“I slept with a client.”

Lilly rolled her eyes.

“Oh for the love of – it was Charlie Weasley, wasn’t it?”

“How did you know?” Caroline asked through her tears.

“Because I know Charlie Weasley and his lack of impulse control. Oh, I swear – I am going to kill him, and they won’t find the bloody pieces!”

Caroline wiped her eyes and shook her head.

“No, no, Lilly. It was my fault.”

Lilly raised an eyebrow at her.

“Then, why are you crying?”

“Because I broke my moral code,” Caroline replied, “I slept with a client, _in my office_! I’m mortified.”

Lilly leant back in her chair.

“ _In_ your office?”

Caroline nodded.

“Don’t say it was the on the desk, that’s way too cliché.”

Caroline grimaced, “Chaise longue.”

“Even more cliché!” Lilly exclaimed, “Well if you’re going to break the rules, have a blowout, I guess.”

Caroline shot her a half-amused, half-exasperated look.

“Lilly!”

“What? You’ve done it now, at least tell me it was worth it,” Lilly said, giving Caroline a knowing look.

Caroline looked into the depths of her coffee.

“It was okay.”

“Okay?” Lilly scoffed, “Come on, Caroline, I know Charlie Weasley’s reputation. Okay isn’t the word I would attribute with him and sex.”

Caroline sighed and looked up; her cheeks were beginning to colour.

“Fine – it was the best I’ve had in a long, _long_ time but that’s not the point, Lilly! The point is that I broke my moral code, and I did it all for all of the wrong reasons. I don’t have any intention of trying to have a relationship with him, mainly because he’s still totally in love with his ex-wife.”

“Yep,” Lilly agreed, “Doesn’t mean you can’t have meaningless hot sex though, does it?”

“But it wasn’t meaningless, and that’s the problem,” Caroline said in exasperation, “I slept with him because he reminds me of Eddie.”

“And he slept with you because he misses Astoria,” Lilly said, she shrugged and threw on her white Healers robes, “So why don’t you just agree that you satisfied each other’s needs and leave it there?”

Caroline sighed, “I don’t have the guts to talk to him after that, and I doubt he’ll come to me. He left in a hurry last night.”

Lilly pushed open the door to the hospital wing and smiled at Caroline as she leant in the doorway.

“Then quit sulking. You had amazing sex last night; you should be happy.”

Before Caroline could dwell on that too much, Frasier’s voice barked orders into the office.

“Moon! Finally decided to show up, have you? We’ve had a dragon attack in a live simulation room, and we’ve got multiple injuries so why don’t you get your part-time arse to work?”

Caroline rolled her eyes.

“And Lamb! Quit sulking in the office and help!” Frasier’s voice added, “It’s all hands on deck out here!”

Lilly grinned at Caroline.

“You heard the boss, get yourself out of your funk girl!”

“You’re way too happy about a multiple injury simulation room attack,” Caroline huffed as she followed her colleague and friend out of the room.

“What can I say? I miss the action,” Lilly confessed, throwing herself into the chaotic hospital wing.

* * *

When Harry finished for the day, he headed straight to Longbottom House. It only took a quick check of the greenhouses to work out that wherever Neville was, it was inside. He let himself in and called out.

“Nev? Lilly?”

“Lilly’s at work,” Neville’s voice called from an adjoining room, “I’m in the library.”

Harry stepped into the library.

“Good because it’s you I wanted to talk to.”

Neville leant back in his armchair and grimaced.

“About Al, I’m guessing?”

“Daphne told you already?” Harry asked with a frown.

Neville shook his head.

“Lilly did. Daphne was over this morning with the kids; she talked to Lilly about it while I was gathering some potion ingredients in Diagon Alley.”

“Potion ingredients for?” Harry asked, noticing Neville’s discomfort.

“Chronic pain,” Neville replied, “Because it seems like something I’m going to have to learn to live with.”

Harry sighed and sat down.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t say sorry every time I need to talk to you about my back,” Neville ordered, “We’ve been over that, remember?”

Harry just nodded.

“There’s a mild pain potion that I can make,” Neville explained, “It would take the edge off without getting me addicted to pain potions, so it’s worth a shot, right?”

“I’m not the person to talk to when it comes to addictive substances,” Harry reminded him.

Neville was so taken aback by the comment that he barked out a loud laugh.

Harry grinned, “See? That didn’t hurt.”

“It should have,” Neville admitted, “It usually does.”

“It’s a sign that you are healing, even if it doesn’t feel like it right now,” Harry pointed out.

“I suppose,” Neville conceded, “Anyway, you were saying about Al?”

“Yeah,” Harry said, “I just wanted to talk to you about it because I’ve been mulling it over all day. I know it’s the right thing, but giving my magic away scares me. I know I have far too much power for my own good but-”

“Wait,” Neville cut in, “You’re not sharing your magic to heal him? You’re giving him your magic?”

“Just a small fraction of it, but yes,” Harry replied, “Didn’t Lilly tell you about that part?”

“No, she didn’t,” Neville said, his eyes darkening, “And to be honest with you, I think that’s probably because she knew how I would react.”

“Come on, Nev,” Harry sighed, “You would do the same for your kid.”

“Nah, you’re not throwing that one at me,” Neville retorted, “Do you think I’m stupid? I know as well as anyone that magic and health are linked, that our magical power is a contributing factor in how long we live for.”

“Exactly!” Harry snapped, “As it stands, I’ll live longer than Daphne, much longer. Do you think I want that?”

“Once again, you are being unbelievably selfish!” Neville barked, “You and I are on a par where magical power is concerned. You have always been the only person who can stop me, and I have always been the only person that can stop you. Yes, Draco comes a close second but you and I? We’ve got more magic than we need or want, _both_ of us.”

“No, Nev-” Harry cut in.

“No, no, no,” Neville said quickly, “You don’t get to decide what’s good for me. I make my own decisions and how I feel should matter to you too.”

“It does matter,” Harry began to say.

“Does it?” Neville remarked, “Because if you do this, it leaves me. Everyone else dies – I lose my wife, I lose my friends, and then I lose my brother. _I_ have to be the last one left for what, 30 years after you go? 40 years? 50 even? How is that fair, Harry?”

“It’s not,” Harry admitted.

“So I won’t let you do it,” Neville said with conviction.

Harry looked up, ready to fight him on that one because he had to do this – it was for his _son_.

“You need to blood adopt Alastor for it to work,” Neville said, “That will make you his father as far as biology is concerned and do you know what that makes me after our morbid moonlight blood ritual?”

“His Uncle,” Harry replied.

“Exactly, _by blood_ ,” Neville said firmly, his eyes not leaving Harry’s, “So we do this together. Far better to knock 25 years off my life and 25 years off yours than have one of us be the last man standing for 50 years after the others are all gone.”

Harry didn’t know what to say. He was flooded with emotion, so he just nodded and tried to find the right words.

“Neville, I…I…”

Neville knew what he was thinking and what he was trying to say even if Harry couldn’t get the words out himself.

“I know,” The taller man said, “I don’t want to be the last one standing either.”

Harry just nodded.

Neville cleared his throat.

“But that doesn’t give you the right to make selfish decisions, Harry. I know you grew up sacrificing yourself left, right and centre, but we’re a family now, and that isn’t how it works anymore. Any stupid decisions that we make, we make them together.”

“Thank you,” Harry managed to choke out.

Neville nodded, “When are we going to do this, then?”

Harry took a deep breath to steady himself, then he replied.

“As soon as we can get everyone together. I need Bill and Clara, and I’ll have to explain to Teddy why we’re adopting Alastor and not him.”

“Just ask Teddy if he wants to be adopted too,” Neville suggested.

“I plan to,” Harry said honestly, “But I don’t think he will want to be. He loves us, and he completely views us as his parents, but he loves his birth parents too. I don’t want to blood adopt him, but I would if that was what he wanted.”

“You don’t want him to lose that connection to his parents,” Neville realised.

Harry nodded, “He looks like Remus, and he’s a metamorphagus like Tonks. Daphne and I raise him, and we love him, but he shouldn’t lose that. It’s different with Al because he’s been ours since day one.”

“Blood adoption will change him, won’t it?” Neville asked.

“It won’t change his personality, that’s based on how we raised him,” Harry replied, looking out of the library window at the rainy sky, “But it will change his looks, yes. I don’t know how much because he already looks quite like me, but then I look at Andie and Thea.”

“Andie is your double and Thea is Daphne’s,” Neville agreed, “What if only _you_ blood adopted Alastor? He would be a sworn in Potter that way, and his looks wouldn’t change much. It would be less of a shock for him that way, wouldn’t it?”

“I had thought the same thing for a split-second,” Harry admitted, “But I don’t know how Daphne will feel about the idea.”

“If it’s the best thing for Alastor, then I think she will agree,” Neville said honestly, “All she has ever wanted is the best for her children.”

“She’s a great mother,” Harry agreed with a small smile.

“And you’re a great father,” Neville assured him, “You were talking about giving up what? A quarter of your magic for your kid?”

Harry nodded.

“That’s no small sacrifice,” Neville said softly, “Don’t beat yourself up so much. You’re doing a great job.”

Harry blew out a breath and managed a small smile.

“Thanks, Nev. I needed to hear that today.”

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	50. Sometimes We're Strong, Sometimes We're Weak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry finally gets to dish out some good news at work, but tensions at home are still rife over the situation with Alastor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:  
> Bleed Red by Ronnie Dunn.

Harry was yawning when he walked into the Ministry on Friday morning.

“You look like you need a coffee.”

Harry blinked and turned around.

“Oh, hey Draco.”

Draco fell into step with him in the atrium, and Harry frowned.

“Do you think we could take the stairs today?”

Draco frowned and shot him a sideways look.

“Sure.”

They bypassed the elevators for the stairs which were far less grand than the rest of the Ministry. Gold adorned all of the ‘public’ parts of the building, but the employee only staircase was bare, dull concrete.

“What’s going on?” Draco asked the moment they had left the hustle and bustle of the atrium, “I mean, are you just on some crazy health kick or…?”

Harry snorted, “No, something is happening, and I need to tell you about it. With any luck, Daphne and I are blood-adopting Alastor at the weekend.”

Draco paused on the landing.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Harry said with a nod, “We talked to Teddy about it, and he doesn’t want to be blood-adopted which is fine because I don’t want him to lose his connection with Remus and Tonks. But we have to adopt Alastor because his magical core is cracked and we can only fix it if someone blood related gives him magic.”

Draco raised an eyebrow at him, “You’re giving him your magic? Forever?”

“Yes,” Harry replied, “Not all of it, obviously. I was going to give him a quarter, but now Neville is going to split it with me, so it’s like 12.5% each.”

“But Neville’s not related to him,” Draco frowned.

“Well, he is,” Harry said with a shrug, “We made our whole dark magic blood pact and swore each other in as brothers so when I blood-adopt Alastor, Neville becomes his Uncle by blood.”

“I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that it was you and Neville who did the whole ancient, dark magic, moonlit ritual thing,” Draco said with a shake of his head, “But anyway, I hope it works.”

“So do I,” Harry said with a sigh. They began to climb the stairs again, “With any luck, it will all happen over the weekend, but we’ll have to see how things go. I just thought you ought to know.”

Draco nodded, “I appreciate that, thank you.”

“No worries,” Harry replied, “How’s the case coming along?”

“Slowly,” Draco stated, “Theo was up until an ungodly hour pouring over books in the library last night, but he didn’t find anything. We’re stuck, Harry.”

“Yeah,” Harry sighed, “It’s smart, using a curse so that we can’t tie it back to the perp.”

“At least there haven’t been any more attacks,” Draco said optimistically as they reached the central department.

Harry nodded and patted him on the shoulder.

“Keep up the good work, all the same,” he said before stepping into his office to begin the day. He had his morning cup of coffee and a chat with John then he pulled in Natalie McDonald from Fraud and did her appraisal.

After that, he had a brief coffee break and a small gossip with Owen about what Ben was like as a flatmate then he got his second employee in for their appraisal. This time it was Dean Miller who had just transferred into Vice and wasn’t much of a talker.

His third appraisal of the day was with Ivy Montgomery whose sister had been transferred out of the department earlier in the year. There was a note in her file regarding that to remind Harry to ask about it.

“Good morning, sir,” Ivy said, smiling nervously at Harry.

Harry smiled back at her, “There’s no need to look nervous, Ivy. Your appraisal form looks great. Your supervisor, Roger, is very happy with you.”

Ivy’s cheeks flushed, and she smiled, “Is he?”

Harry had the sickening feeling that the creep was sleeping with her. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t _that_ wrong because there were only four years between the two Aurors, despite the difference in rank. But it was frowned upon to sleep with a fellow Auror and even more so with a team member.

“Yes,” Harry said, “He gave you a glowing commendation, and from what I have seen of your work, I agree with him. You are ticking all of the boxes, and you seem to be a good fit in Missing Persons.”

Ivy’s smile widened, “Thank you, sir.”

Harry asked her about her personal goal and her future aspirations, then he said, “Oh and Ivy, how is your sister getting on?”

“She’s okay,” Ivy said, her eyes darting downwards, “She misses being an Auror, of course.”

Harry nodded, “Do you know why she’s not an Auror anymore?”

“She made some comments that she shouldn’t have made,” Ivy said, “And I don’t share those opinions, sir. I hate the werewolf who killed my brother, but I don’t believe in tarring every magical creature with that brush.”

Harry bowed his head, “Very wise, Ivy. Thank you for your time and keep up the good work.”

Ivy thanked him and left, but Harry couldn’t shake the bad feeling in his gut. He pushed it aside and had a coffee before inviting the final employee of the day into his office.

* * *

“You requested my presence, your lordship?” Theo said dramatically when he walked into Harry’s office.

Harry grinned, “Sit down, you idiot.”

Theo snorted and sat down across from Harry.

“Am I really meant to take this seriously? You know everything about me, why do I need an appraisal?”

“For official purposes,” Harry replied with an amused smile, “And for the record, I don’t know everything about you. I know everything about you that irritates Draco because Godric, that man can whine.”

Theo smirked.

“And I know everything about you that irritates Hermione because I’m her go-to-guy when she needs a bitch, but I don’t even know your favourite colour,” Harry pointed out.

“Take a wild guess,” Theo smirked.

“Green?” Harry guessed.

“Do you know what? It’s actually red,” Theo replied cheekily.

“Of course it is,” Harry snorted, “Look, we do need to do the appraisal, but the good news is that there are no concerns with it. You don’t have a direct supervisor apart from me because you work independently within the department, not with a particular team. I asked Shep if he wanted to be the secondary for your review and he said he didn’t need to be because you’re doing fine.”

Theo smiled slightly.

“So all I want to talk about is how you’re doing,” Harry said honestly, “And I know how you’re doing on a personal level, to a degree, but I mean – how are you doing with work? Are you okay being back here? It’s not too much too fast?”

“I’m fine,” Theo admitted, “I didn’t think I would be this fine, being back here, but I am. It keeps me busy, stops my mind wandering, you know? I’m filling my head with new ideas rather than dwelling on the old memories.”

“I understand that,” Harry said honestly, “But you don’t miss the action, at all?”

Theo shook his head, “No, I don’t. I love being here with the guys I’ve called friends for the past five years, but you know what I love even more?”

Harry shook his head.

“Knowing that I don’t have to leave this building until it’s time to go home to my wife and kids,” Theo replied, a softness to his voice that he only let out around those he trusted, “Knowing I don’t have to run into the fire anymore. I can kiss Sadie goodbye and say I’ll see her later, and I know I’ll always come through on that promise now.”

Harry smiled, “I can’t fault you for that. I wish I were able to give up the adrenaline rush so easily.”

“You don’t see yourself sticking out the paper-pushing job, huh?” Theo guessed.

“Not full-time,” Harry admitted, “Not right now. I’m itching to get back in that Homicide Office every time I walk past the door. When the alarm goes, I just want to run out with them but to be honest with you Theo; I’ve been running in the fire for so long now that I’m not sure I know how to stop.”

“You and Draco both,” Theo admitted, “That’s why you need sensible, stable influences like Neville and me in your lives.”

“You’re not wrong,” Harry agreed, “But I am glad to hear that you’re feeling settled. The only thing I would say is that even though you have retired from active duty, you ought to keep your duelling sharp. You were an Auror then you lost a lot of magical power and got it back again. There may come a time when the Ministry is attacked, and you need to duel, but if you try and duel like you used to, you might struggle. I suspect you will need to adapt again like Neville will have to adjust his technique to allow for his injury.”

Theo nodded, “Yeah, you’re probably right. You going to send me back to the training centre?”

“Nah, nothing like that,” Harry answered, “But once a week when we’re quiet, grab Shep or me, and we’ll go to the duelling room for a bit of practice, alright?”

Theo nodded, “Yeah, thanks.”

“No bother,” Harry said cheerfully, “I’m glad to have you back, Theo. You’re the talk of the department, you know? We’re always wondering what’s going to come next.”

Theo grinned, “Thanks.”

“The alarm system split us down the middle, mind you,” Harry added, “You either love it or you hate it, but Shep and I can both see how useful it is in streamlining things. The map of London that you’ve been working on is ground-breaking and your one-shot wands? We can’t wait to see a working prototype of one of them.”

“I brushed them off as useless,” Theo admitted, “It was Shep who saw a sketch in my office and pushed the idea on.”

“They are a brilliant idea,” Harry said honestly, “Squibs pay a small fortune to put themselves through courses that would give them the smallest amount of magic. How much do you think they would pay for something that could help them defend themselves? Imagine how much this could mean to a young female squib who lives alone in the Closes.”

Theo nodded, “I know. When Shep explained his logic, I understood, and I’ve got it at the top of my priority list.”

“We know you do,” Harry confessed, “I just wanted to tell you personally how great I think it is.”

“Well, thank you,” Theo said genuinely, “I never pictured myself as an inventor, and that’s basically what I am. It’s weird, isn’t it? Sadie’s father was an inventor, and now so am I.”

“They do say that a woman goes for a man who reminds her of her father,” Harry pointed out, “I mean look at Daphne, her father was an alcoholic, and so is her husband.”

Theo snorted, “Good to know we’re at the stage where we can make jokes about it again.”

Harry chuckled, “It’s the only way to make light of a bad situation.”

“Speaking of bad situations, is everything okay with you and Daphne?” Theo asked, “With the whole thing about Alastor, you know?”

“Everythings fine,” Harry said with a smile, “Because with any luck, we will fix Alastor’s magical core at the weekend.”

“I didn’t think that was possible,” Theo said honestly.

“It shouldn’t be,” Harry admitted, “But with a lot of loopholes, it is. Someone related to Alastor by blood can give him magic and then a Healer; in this case, Clara will bind his magic.”

“So his magical core has the chance to heal itself,” Theo finished, “Shit, Harry. I’m sorry, I didn’t think of that.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Harry said as he got to his feet and grabbed himself a cup of coffee, “It’s not your area of expertise, I was only asking you about it because you had done something similar recently.”

Theo nodded, “So, are we done here?”

“There’s one last thing that I have to tell you,” Harry admitted, “Every year the Heads of each department are asked to put their employee's names forward for something and this year, Shep and I got our heads together to come up with our candidates. Your name was one of the two that we agreed upon.”

Theo looked nervous, “Oh, sweet Salazar. What have you put me down for? Not Auror summer camp, oh please Merlin, not that.”

Harry smirked, “Funny that you should mention Merlin.”

Theo frowned, “Why?”

“We have nominated you for an Order of Merlin, Theo,” Harry said with a small smile.

Theo’s eyes widened. He opened his mouth, frowned, shook his head, then closed it again.

“Uh…but…why?”

“The map,” Harry answered simply, “It is ground-breaking which is why we put you forward for a Second Class Order of Merlin. It is an achievement beyond the ordinary.”

Theo swallowed and cleared his throat.

“Thank you,” he managed to say.

“You deserve it,” Harry promised, “You are one of two candidates we put forward for it this year and the powers that be approved of both of our choices.”

“Who was the other candidate?” Theo asked curiously.

“Strictly speaking I can’t tell you, but as I’m pretty sure you’re going to find out in about five seconds, you might as well stay put,” Harry said.

Theo frowned and opened his mouth to ask what Harry meant, but before he could, a knock sounded on the door.

“Come in!” Harry called.

The door opened, and Draco stepped inside.

“You asked to see me?”

“I did,” Harry agreed, “Take a seat next to your boyfriend. I’ve got good news for you.”

Draco shot him an amused look.

“Yet you still managed to slip an insult in there?”

Harry grinned, “You got any plans for January?”

Draco frowned, “January? Harry, we’re barely into November. Why are you asking about January?”

Theo chuckled, and Draco looked at his best friend.

“Do you know what this is about?”

“Yep,” Theo said with a grin, “And no, Harry – he doesn’t have plans for January.”

“Good,” Harry said, leaning back in his chair, “Because you’re going to be very busy collecting your first-class order of Merlin.”

Draco looked at Harry blankly for a short moment.

“What did you just say?”

“We nominated you and the powers that be agreed with our choice,” Harry said with a proud smile, “You showed outstanding bravery earlier this year. You single-handedly brought down a serial killer who wiped out several pureblood families. Draco, the traditionalists that run the committee think you’re Merlin’s gift to wizard-kind.”

Theo clapped him on the shoulder.

“You were brilliant, and you deserve this.”

“You both do,” Harry said, smiling at his two friends.

Draco pulled himself out of his daze to look at Theo.

“You’re getting one too?”

Theo grinned, “Second Class, for achievement beyond the ordinary.”

“The map of London,” Harry elaborated.

Draco still looked stunned.

“I…honestly Harry, I don’t know what to say.”

“Thank you is normally a good start,” Theo whispered in his ear.

Draco cleared his throat and nodded.

“Thank you, Harry, and to John as well of course.”

“You’re welcome!” John’s voice called through the wall.

At this, the tension was broken because all three Aurors snorted to contain their laughter.

* * *

“Lilly – stay alive; you only have ten minutes until home time.”

Lilly lifted her head and looked at Jennifer.

“I think I’m actually dying.”

Jennifer chuckled, “How many weeks pregnant are you?”

“16,” Lilly replied, rubbing her eyes, “And twins are most often born between 34 and 36 weeks which means by my calculations I have at least another 18 to go. That’s three and a half months.”

Jennifer smiled, “What are you finding so difficult? There are a lot of things that can help – and I’m not just talking about potions either. I know you Trauma Healers want to fix everything with a potion or surgery, but sometimes natural remedies are better.”

Lilly groaned, “You sound like my best friend.”

“Is she a Healer too?” Jennifer asked curiously.

“No, she’s a Curse Breaker,” Lilly admitted with a smile, “But she’s got four kids, so she knows what she’s talking about, even if she has only been pregnant twice.”

Realisation shone in Jennifer’s eyes.

“Daphne Potter – that’s your best friend?”

“She’ll always be Daphne Greengrass to me, but yes,” Lilly replied with a slight smile.

“Of course,” Jennifer said with a nod, “Now the tattoo makes sense.”

Lilly frowned, “The…? Oh yeah, I forgot you saw it when you did my weekly check-up.”

“What tattoo?” Caroline asked curiously as she stepped out of her office.

“Lilly’s,” Jennifer answered, “Do you have any tattoos, Caroline?”

“No, I always thought they were cool, but my Dad would never let me get one.” Caroline admitted with a smile, “He said it was wrong to mark yourself like that. I suppose it came from his line of work – Voldemort marked his Death Eaters, and in Azkaban, the inmates give each other tattoos to pass the time.”

“I can understand his perspective,” Lilly admitted.

“It’s different for ordinary humans though,” Caroline carried on, “They get tattoos for all sorts of reasons – to remember those they have lost, to honour those that they love, to remind them what is important.”

“Because they are a rebellious 17-year-old who grew up on a council estate,” Lilly added.

Jennifer chuckled, “Was that the first one?”

“Yeah,” Lilly replied, she pulled her trouser leg up to show them the tiny lark on her ankle, “Just before I ran away during the war, I got this. It’s a symbol of freedom and hope, and at that time in my life, it was poignant.”

“Of course, you’re a Muggle-born so you couldn’t have gone back to school,” Caroline realised.

“I shouldn’t have,” Lilly admitted, “But I did. I promised Neville I wouldn’t, we were just friends back then, but I saw him off on the muggle side of the platform. He told me to hide out and stay safe, but me being me, what did I do?”

“Ran towards the danger?” Caroline guessed.

“Yep,” Lilly answered, “I went back to Hogwarts, took over the running of the hospital wing from Ginny Weasley because I love that girl, but man her organisation skills are weak.”

Jennifer chuckled.

“And Neville and I, we clashed that year,” Lilly admitted, “We had different ideas on how to run a rebellion. Either way, that’s the story of that tattoo.”

“How many do you have?” Caroline asked curiously.

“Four,” Lilly replied, “I have a raven on my foot which I got after the war.”

“For your house, I guess?” Jennifer asked.

“Sort of,” Lilly answered, “More for a Ravenclaw that I lost. One of my friends, Stephen, he helped me run the hospital wing during the war, and he died in the final battle, so the raven is to remember him by – it was his Patronus spirit.”

“That’s sweet,” Jennifer said softly.

Lilly looked down thoughtfully.

“I got this one for Neville after we got married,” she said, lifting her shirt to show them the tattoo on her back. Unlike the other two, it was a coloured tattoo, and it was also far larger.

“A sword?” Jennifer asked.

“The sword of Gryffindor,” Caroline realised.

Lilly nodded – green and yellow plants surrounded the sword.

“It’s supposed to show the two sides of Neville, you know? The war hero who beheaded the snake and my Neville whose happiest in a greenhouse.”

Caroline smiled, “It’s a beautiful sentiment.”

“And this one is for my best friend,” Lilly finished, turning around to show them the final tattoo which was on her side, just below her rib-cage, “It looks weird because pregnancy is stretching it a little, but it’s a laurel wreath with the Eiffel tower inside of it.”

“The laurel is because her name is Daphne, I guess? But why the Eiffel tower?” Jennifer asked curiously.

“Paris is sort of important to us,” Lilly said with a shrug, “It’s a long story involving a psychic and a fake future.”

“Not to mention that kiss.”

Lilly spun around and saw Harry smirking in the doorway of the hospital wing.

“Thanks for that.”

Harry chuckled, “Don’t worry, I know Daphne coerced you into it. I do know how manipulative that woman can be.”

Jennifer smiled in amusement, “Good afternoon, Harry or is it sir now?”

“Harry is fine,” Harry said quickly, “And I’m not here as the Assistant Head Auror, don’t worry. I’m here to take Lil home.”

“I can take myself home, you know?” Lilly pointed out.

“I know you can, but I need to talk to you about something, so I thought we could go together,” Harry said evasively.

Lilly narrowed her eyes at him.

“Okay.”

“You don’t need to look so suspicious,” Harry promised.

“How did you know when I was finishing anyway?” Lilly asked.

“I’m the Assistant Head Auror, I know everyone’s schedules,” Harry reminded her.

“Right, and that’s not creepy at all,” Lilly remarked.

Harry raised an eyebrow at her.

“Well, this creep has just been scouting Diagon Alley for these for the last hour, just for you.”

He handed her a brown package and Lilly peeked inside.

“Are those what I think they are?”

“Taste-removing drops,” Harry said with a grin, “Chuck them in your ginger tea and drink it to get rid of nausea but without having to struggle through the rank taste.”

Lilly grinned, “Harry, you’re the best.”

“I know I am,” Harry smirked, “Just don’t tell Daphne, alright? I made her struggle through two pregnancies enduring the taste of ginger because of how hard those things are to source.”

Lilly laughed, “Our secret then?”

Harry tapped his nose in response.

Jennifer chuckled, “You can get going, Lilly. Have a nice weekend, and we’ll see you on Monday.”

“And I’ll see _you_ on Monday,” Caroline said to Harry, “Don’t be late and-”

“Bring coffee, got it,” Harry said, giving Caroline a thumbs up as he backed out of the hospital wing.

Lilly shook her head in amusement.

“He’s in equal parts impossible and adorable,” she said to the other two Healers while she grabbed her bag, “Have a nice weekend, girls.”

Lilly stepped out of the hospital wing and took Harry’s extended arm. While they walked through the training centre, they began to talk.

“I’m worried about Neville,” Harry admitted.

“Why?” Lilly asked, “Aside from his general stubbornness and refusal to follow the guidelines set out by both his Healer and his physio?”

“Yeah, exactly,” Harry said, “He knows if he does too much, he could end up paralysed, right?”

“Of course he does which is why he isn’t doing too much,” Lilly said honestly, “I may not be _his_ Healer, but I am _a_ Healer, and more importantly, I’m his wife. I keep an eye on his activity and his pain levels and if he starts doing too much, trust me, he hears about it.”

“You really think he’s okay?” Harry asked.

“He’s doing more than he should but not more than he’s capable of,” Lilly answered, “He’s not lifting anything heavy or using strenuous magic.”

“You don’t think magic sharing is strenuous?” Harry cut in.

Lilly shot Harry an amused look.

“Harry, he nearly died then he was out of action for weeks, so when we started having sex again, let me put it this way – it was good. Magic sharing isn’t too physically taxing for him, trust me.”

“Thanks for that image,” Harry remarked sarcastically.

Lilly snorted and popped a square of chewing gum in her mouth.

“I’m not too concerned about his physical health. He’s healing well, and I mean we’re having sex so _that_ worry isn’t a worry. It’s his mental health that I’m worried about.”

“Because he isn’t an Auror anymore?” Harry guessed.

“Because he isn’t anything anymore,” Lilly replied, “He could go back and work a desk but he won’t. Yes, he has his dream job lined up for _next_ September but come on, its November now. When the twins are born, he’ll be busy enough but until then – what is he supposed to occupy his time with?”

“What does he do at the moment?” Harry asked, glancing sideways at Lilly.

“Works in the many greenhouses that cover the grounds of our house and yours,” Lilly said, “Hangs out with your kids, sometimes helps Daphne with the school run. He reads a lot, talks to himself and the portraits mostly.”

“Yeah,” Harry said with a frown, “I thought that he needed another project too. The Wizengamot thing didn’t keep him distracted for long.”

“When they start to have sessions again, that will give him something to do, but it’s only one meeting a month,” Lilly said with a shrug, “And I have no idea what to suggest for him to do in the meantime.”

“Me either,” Harry admitted, “But you really think this magic sharing thing is going to be okay?”

“It won’t hurt Neville, and I’m hopeful that it will help Al,” Lilly said with a smile as they left the training centre, “Stop worrying so much about everyone, it’s all going to be okay.”

Harry nodded, “Yeah,” he said, wishing that he could convince himself of that.

* * *

When Draco and Theo got home that night, they were in high spirits.

“Grab your coats; we’re going out!” Theo said dramatically.

“What about dinner?” Sadie asked, narrowing her eyes at her husband.

“Tell the elves to keep it in the pot for supper, we’re going out for dinner,” Draco said as he tried to contain his excitement.

“Why?” Hermione asked, looking between the two men suspiciously.

“Is someone getting married?” Sadie asked sarcastically, “Are you two getting married?”

The jibe didn’t even bother them, Theo just grinned.

“No, but do you know what we are getting?”

“Do we want to know?” Hermione asked dryly.

“Order of Merlins, Princess,” Theo said.

Hermione’s eyes widened, “Seriously?”

Draco nodded, “Harry pulled us into the office and told us today. Theo is getting a Second Class for his achievement with the map of London and the maps that caught Lucia.”

“And Draco, our very own hero,” Theo beamed proudly, “Is getting a First Class for catching the serial killer who wiped out a fraction of the Sacred 28.”

Hermione squealed and positively jumped on Draco to nobody’s surprised.

“I’m so proud of you!” They heard her say as she attempted to squeeze the life out of him.

Sadie chuckled and looked away from them. She met Theo’s eye.

“You have no idea how proud I am.”

“I think I have some idea,” Theo promised.

Sadie shook her head, “No, you don’t. My father spent his life trying to be as good as you are because he craved an Order of Merlin. You don’t do it because of that, you do it to help people, and that is why you deserve this more than he ever did Theo.”

Theo smiled warmly at that and grabbed her. He pulled her towards him and kissed her, a little more passionately than he would normally do in front of the kids. As a result, the kids made noises, and Charlus yelled, “Ugh, that’s gross!”

Draco shooshed him by saying, “Right shoes and coats on, we’re going to everyone’s favourite buffet restaurant in Diagon Alley tonight!”

There was a general cheer at this, and the mood amongst the family felt lighter than it had in months.

* * *

Harry looked around at the motley crew gathered in the drawing-room of Potter Manor.

“Are we all ready for this?”

Clara nodded, “Medically speaking; I can guarantee that my part will go fine.”

“And if you two listen to everything I say, the mental aspect should work too,” Bill said, looking between Harry and Neville, “But everyone needs to trust me implicitly and do what I say when I say it. Timing is important here.”

Harry bowed his head, “I trust you completely, Bill.”

“So do I,” Neville said.

“And I will bow to your superior knowledge on this subject,” Clara finished.

Bill nodded and looked across the room at Daphne. She was chewing on her lip as her eyes met his.

“Daphne?”

Daphne was silent for a moment, then she nodded.

“I trust you with my life, Bill but he’s…” her voice caught in her throat, “He’s my baby.”

“I know,” Bill said softly, “And trust me, he is going to be just fine.”

Daphne nodded very slightly. Lilly gave Neville a supportive smile then moved across the room and took Daphne’s hand. Daphne let out a breath and shot Lilly a grateful look.

Harry and Neville stood above Alastor, who was in a potion-induced sleep in a make-shift cot-bed.

“You don’t have to do this,” Harry said, looking at Alastor instead of Neville. He rested his hand on his son’s chest. The little boy's features had changed a little since the blood adoption earlier that day. His facial features were a bit more defined like Daphne’s, and his dark brown hair was a shade closer to black. His brown eyes were tinged with green in the right light as well, but there was no mistaking that he was still the same person.

“Yes, I do,” Neville said, reaching out and placing his hand on top of Harry’s.

Harry swallowed.

“You’re both my family,” Neville said quietly.

Harry took a breath and looked up. There was no arguing with Neville, not when he had that determined glint in his eyes.

Bill watched the exchange between the two men and smiled.

“There’s no denying that your brothers, regardless of the way that came about. The way you two feel about each other, the lengths you would go to for each other, to protect each other? It’s exactly how Charlie and I feel.”

Neville nodded, “It’s going to be fine, Harry.”

“Listen to him,” Bill advised, “He’s right.”

Harry sucked in a shaky breath, then nodded.

“Okay.”

Bill bowed his head, “Okay. Alastor cannot focus on his magical core because he doesn’t understand the concept yet. That means that you two are going to have to link yourselves mentally then delve into Alastor’s head together. You need to use your magic to feel for his magic, and you should find his magical core.”

Both men nodded.

“When you find it – you both need to focus on siphoning your magic to him,” Bill continued, “But you need to focus on your desire for him to have that magic – this won’t work without implicit consent.”

Again, both men nodded.

“So do you know how to link yourselves mentally?”

“A combination of the link we honed during Auror training and Legilimency I guess?” Neville asked.

“Exactly. Focus on each other’s thoughts then one of you – whoever is best – casts Legilimency,” Bill said.

“It ought to be you then, Harry,” Neville said – brown eyes meeting green. This was it, the last chance to back out, but they both knew that neither of them would.

“Okay,” Harry said simply, his wand at the ready.

Neville held his hand out – any telepathic magic was more manageable when it involved touch.

Harry took Neville’s outstretched hand and closed his eyes. They both focused on the others thoughts, and it didn’t take long for Neville to feel Harry’s crushing anxiety over what they were about to do. The moment Harry latched onto Neville’s hopeful, optimistic thoughts, he murmured, “Leglilimens.”

The spell worked instantly – Harry opened his eyes and found himself in a void with Neville.

“How do we get into Alastor’s head from here?” Harry asked, unsure if the words would come out in the real world or not.

“Your hand is still on his chest, so all you need to do is focus on Alastor then cast Legilimens again,” Bill answered.

Harry did as Bill had said, and within seconds, Harry and Neville found themselves inside Alastor’s head. He was having a dream about flying unicorns and hippogriffs – typical kid stuff, and it made Harry smile.

Neville murmured a reminder, “Use our magic to feel his.”

They both focused on their magical core and used the vibrations to guide them to Alastors. Neither of them could explain how it worked, it was bizarre and dream-like but either way – they found Alastor’s magical core.

“Harry,” Neville whispered when they did, “It’s…”

“It’s really low,” Harry agreed.

They didn’t realise that everything they said in Alastor’s head was also said out loud.

“You need to be very careful about topping it up then,” Bill’s voice said, “Do not use too much of your magic. When you siphon it out, you will see your magical core depleting – there will be some sort of alarm when it starts to get low. It might be visual or a sound of some sort, look out for anything red, red is always a sign of impending danger.”

“Okay,” Harry and Neville replied in unison.

“Let’s do it,” Neville said, looking at Harry.

Harry nodded; he knew that this was going to be the most challenging part. Bill had warned him that establishing a connection would be problematic because Alastor couldn’t help from his end. Harry closed his eyes and drew on Neville’s magic to kickstart the mental spell. He wasn’t sure if Neville felt the pull, but the jump start worked. It was almost like something clicked – like they had broken a lock, allowing Harry and Neville’s magic to flow into Alastor’s magical core.

In the real world, their eyes glazed over and their magic flowed like two golden rays of light into Alastor. Daphne gripped Lilly’s hand tightly, and Bill watched on anxiously.

In Alastor’s head, his magical core began to fill up, and as it did, a hissing sound began as the magic tried to escape from the crack running up the length of the container.

“Harry, I’m done,” Neville said from Harry’s side.

Alastor’s magical core wasn’t half full yet.

“Then stop,” Harry demanded.

“Harry-”

“Stop!” Harry said again, “He’s my son, you’re not losing your magic for this.”

Neville didn’t want to, but he did listen to Harry. He stopped siphoning his magic and let go of Harry’s hand, which brought him back to the real world.

“Neville,” Daphne said nervously.

“He told me to stop when the alarm bells started ringing in my head, so I did,” Neville said, looking nervously at his best friend.

“He can’t give him too much,” Daphne fretted.

“He won’t,” Lilly said, her eyes on Harry, “I’ve got more faith in him than that – he knows his magical power and its limitations.”

“Now, Clara,” Harry said, his voice echoing around the room.

Clara was waiting above Alastor with her wand at the ready, so she cast the binding spell the moment Harry had spoken. The little boy's body convulsed, and Harry’s eyes flashed as he was forced out of his sons head.

Daphne ran forward and gripped Alastor as his body shook, but thankfully, it didn’t last for long.

“He’s okay,” Clara promised, her hand on Alastor’s wrist to check his heartbeat, “His body just got a shock because it has never had to process that amount of magic before.”

Daphne sighed in relief and looked up at Harry – her relief turned to anger.

“How much did you give him?”

“Not too much-”

“ _How_ much, Harry?” Daphne asked fiercely.

“A little more than a quarter,” Harry confessed.

Daphne opened her mouth to shout at him, but before she could, Harry snapped.

“I had too much, okay? He needed more than we thought, and I had more than any man should!”

Lilly bit her lip, expecting Daphne to blow up at her husband,

“I didn’t sacrifice anything,” Harry promised, “I can still do this-” he cast a fully corporeal Patronus and made it look effortless.

“And this,” Harry added, spinning his wand around and wordlessly conjuring up a ring of fire around himself.

“Not to mention this,” Harry continued, casting a wordless “Glacius” to turn the flames to solid ice.

He was ranting and not because he was losing his temper but to show Daphne quite how hard it had been to control the level of magic he had been cursed with. Harry clicked his fingers and lit every single lamp in the room; he clapped his hands and put out every light in the entire Manor.

“Enough!” Daphne snapped.

Harry clicked his fingers, and every lamp turned on at once.

“Are you finished?” Daphne asked angrily.

Harry said nothing as he stared her down.

“So it worked, and that’s great, but what if it _hadn’t_ worked, Harry?” Daphne asked lowly, “What if you had lost your ability to be an Auror? What would that mean for your other three children, not just Alastor? You _need_ to learn when to stop. You’re a grown man, and you’re a father for heaven's sake!”

“He does know when to stop, Daphne,” Lilly said gently. She took a step forward, “Harry has more magic than Neville and while Neville didn’t know that – Harry did, he’s always known.”

Harry frowned at her, “How did you know?”

Lilly shrugged, “It’s a hunch I’ve had for a little while. Everyone sees you as equals, but it was a struggle for Neville to control you when you were losing control of your magic, Harry. But when you did it for Neville? It seemed comfortable.”

Daphne glared at Harry, “How many years do you think you just gave away?”

“I don’t know,” Harry replied, “And honestly, I don’t care. Whatever I lost, Neville lost too. If I had done it on my own, maybe I would have lost my ability to be an Auror, and maybe I would have lost 50 years. Still, this way – Neville and I both retain our magic, Alastor gets the life that he deserves, and nobody has to live for years after the person they love more than anything is dead and gone because I’m sorry Daphne, but that’s no life.”

Neville nodded his agreement.

Lilly met his eye, “Is your magic okay?”

“It’s fine,” Neville answered.

“Can you prove it?” Lilly asked. She could sense that something was wrong with him.

Neville raised his wand and cast a very careful Patronus charm. It was fully corporeal which proved that his magic was just fine, but he winced when the animal bounded out of his wand.

“Your back hurts,” Lilly said.

Neville nodded.

Daphne sighed, “Go upstairs to the spare bedroom right now,” she ordered.

Neville wasn’t in much of a mood to argue with her – he was exhausted.

“Can I-” Lilly began to say.

“Yes, go with him,” Daphne answered shortly.

Lilly nodded, “I’ll be here in the morning if you need to talk,” she said as she left the drawing-room with Neville.

Clara felt a little awkward in the middle of this family domestic

“Alastor is perfectly healthy, and the binding was successful.”

“Thank you, Clara,” Daphne said gratefully, “You should go home, it’s late.”

Clara nodded and didn’t waste any time getting out of there – the atmosphere was tense.

Harry looked at Daphne warily.

“Daphne-”

“Take Alastor to bed and stay with him,” Daphne said curtly, “I’ll come and take over the watch soon, but I need to let off some steam first.”

Harry opened his mouth to argue then shut it and nodded.

Daphne looked up at Bill who seemed to know what was coming. He looked back at her expectantly.

“Bill, can we walk and talk? And possibly duel?”

“Course we can,” Bill said, putting his arm around her shoulder and steering her out of the drawing-room.

Harry blew out a breath and muttered.

“Well, that went well.”

“ _What_ is your definition of ‘well’, Harry?”

“I’m with the werewolf on this one, Potter,” Tracey’s voice said.

Harry turned to the portrait of the Marauders.

“I didn’t lose my magic, Alastor is healthy, and he _has_ magic, Neville didn’t lose his magic, nobody got hurt, Daphne didn’t kill me. Those are all good things.”

“Yeah but your missus is fucking furious at you mate,” Sirius pointed out.

Lily nudged Sirius and whispered, “Not helpful, Sirius!”

“Sorry,” Sirius said sheepishly.

“I’d be happy with a 90% success rate, son,” James confessed with a smile.

Harry smiled back.

“Thanks, Dad.”

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	51. Got Confidence We'll Rise Above

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daphne and Harry finally get to the bottom of their recent marital struggles, and Draco has to face some feelings he has been ignoring for too long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:  
> Hold My Girl by George Ezra.

When Daphne and Bill stepped into the grounds, Daphne shivered.

“You want my cloak?” Bill asked.

“No,” Daphne replied tetchily, “You don’t think I’m a powerful enough Witch to warm myself up? Just like my husband doesn’t think I’m good enough to help my son, so he decides to risk everything to do it himself?”

She pulled her wand out of her pocket and transfigured her cardigan into a coat.

“See?”

Bill watched, his eyes sparkling with amusement, as Daphne picked up a rock and transfigured it into a jar then started a magical fire.

“Just as brilliant as Hermione Granger,” Daphne muttered irritably.

“Okay,” Bill said, biting back a grin, “First of all – Harry stopped comparing you to Hermione a long time ago if he ever did for that matter. Secondly, I don’t think that little demonstration was meant for me. I know exactly how brilliant your mind and magic is – I see this domestic side of you every so often, but every day I see another side of you. To me, you’re the woman who removed the curse on the screaming skull and blasted a vengeful 200-year-old ghost right into the next plain of life.”

Daphne smiled a little.

“Harry doesn’t see that side of you anymore because you work the same hours,” Bill explained, “Maybe he has forgotten quite how brilliant you are, _but_ he is also right. He has more magic than he needs and more than he wants.”

Daphne sighed, “What you said about his magical core overflowing – that’s why he was able to give Al so much?”

Bill nodded, “And you saw how powerful he was afterwards.”

“We all saw his little demonstration,” Daphne remarked irritably, “ _Look at me, I’m Harry Potter! I’m so fantastic_.”

Bill shot her a smile, “Come on, you know he’s a drama queen.”

Daphne did let a genuine smile slip onto her face at that.

“So do you need to duel to get it out of your system or is a rant and me stroking your ego enough?” Bill joked.

Daphne punched him in the arm.

“Shut up.”

Bill chuckled and put his arm around her – he did view her as a slightly irritating but cute little sister these days.

“You really were awesome with that screaming skull case.”

“I was, wasn’t I?” Daphne retorted.

“You told a ghost to go fuck itself,” Bill remembered, “That’s the day I swore you into the Weasley family and told Harry he could never leave you.”

Daphne smiled sadly, “I just don’t get why he never told me about how much magic he has. There’s so much he doesn’t tell me, Bill.”

“Daphne, this wasn’t a typical Harry Potter rash move,” Bill admitted, “Harry spoke to me earlier today, before all of this.”

Daphne frowned, “What?”

“I won’t tell you what was said, I’ll let him do that,” Bill said, “But he spoke to me today, and I have to admit, I see it from his perspective. How would you feel if you knew that you were going to live 30 years longer than Harry but that you had a chance to change that and help your son, with minimal risk because your best friend was helping you?”

Daphne sighed.

“I know he doesn’t tell you stuff, Daph,” Bill confessed, “And I know it drives you fucking crazy, but when you married Harry Potter, you knew about both sides of the coin. Everyone else knew that you were getting the brilliant Auror, the man who defeated Voldemort, the marquess on the Wizengamot. But _you_ knew about the other side – you knew about the nightmares, the crushing regret, the slightly questionable coping mechanisms, the secrets and the inability to talk about the past because of how horrific it was. He doesn’t do it to hurt you, but yes, he keeps things from you, and that’s something you two are going to have to talk about.”

“I knew what I was signing up for,” Daphne agreed, “But there was a part of me that thought once we were married, once we had kids – the life or death decisions would ease up a little. But then I look at the last year Bill, and he just keeps throwing himself into the goddamn fire. I love him, I love him so much, but I don’t know if I can spend the rest of my life watching him do this to himself.”

“I get where you’re coming from,” Bill admitted, “But if you look at those life or death decisions a bit more closely, you can see them for what they actually are.”

“Typical rash Harry Potter moves?” Daphne retorted.

Bill shook his head, “No, Daphne – calculated risks. He doesn’t run blindly into the fire anymore; he looks at the flames, works out how high they are, how hot they are. He thinks about the best form of protection, the plan that gives him the best odds then he goes in, saves people and gets out so he can come home to you. Try to remember that when the Aurors went into that church to save Theo, they lost a man, Sorenson got badly burned, Neville nearly ended up paralysed, Rob got bitten by a werewolf but Harry? Harry came out without a scratch on him. That’s not a man who runs blindly into a fire because he’s not that man, not anymore.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Daphne sighed, “Maybe I’m just worried that I’m falling behind. Harry and I used to be equal – you know, I could beat him in a duel if I really tried and these days I feel like that will only happen if he lets me beat him.”

“Or if you duel him naked,” Bill quipped with a grin.

Daphne snorted, “When did he become this all-powerful Assistant Head Auror, Bill?”

“Somewhere between Theo dying and Sumner dying,” Bill answered honestly, “And the truth of the matter is that it’s because of you. He’s a good Assistant Head because people like him and because he loves people – like Dumbledore, he has faith in good people and no time for bad ones. But the reason he’ll stick the job out is you. It’s for your peace of mind, for a job that halves the amount of time that he’s in the field.”

“I’ve been a bit of a bitch, haven’t I?” Daphne grimaced.

Bill shrugged, “It’s not all your fault; don’t be too hard on yourself.”

Daphne hummed thoughtfully.

“Plus, you’re always a bit of a bitch so…” Bill trailed off, shooting her a wolfish grin.

“Oh, fuck you,” Daphne retorted, but the smile on her face gave her away.

* * *

Harry was tired, but he couldn’t fall asleep. His hand was on Alastor’s wrist, continually feeling his pulse for any changes. He watched his son’s chest moving slowly and steadily, and although it relaxed him – he was too anxious to sleep.

Harry’s hand moved from Alastor’s wrist for a moment to push the little boy's hair out of his face. Harry frowned as he looked at the little boy – at first, the changes had been so minor, he hadn’t noticed them but in the dimly lit bedroom when there was nothing to distract him when all was quiet and peaceful – he could see it.

The blood adoption had been easy, scarily easy. It involved an oath, rather like wedding vows, swearing to protect Alastor and keep him as their son always. Then Harry and Daphne had pricked their fingers and mixed their blood. After that they had mixed that blood with Alastor's, there had been a flash of magic and some immediate small changes in Alastor’s appearance, but Harry could have sworn as the day went on, the differences became more noticeable.

Alastor, in essence, had four parents now – Emma Vane and Graham Montague were his birth parents, but Harry and Daphne were now very much his parents too, and it showed. Alastor’s face had been very round before, he had been incredibly baby-faced, but now he had Daphne’s defined cheekbones – just as Andrea did and as Harry suspected Thea would once she was a little older. His hair which had always been dark anyway was even darker now. It wasn’t black, but it was a very deep brown, and it had become more unruly. Al’s hair had always been sort of wispy, but it was thicker now, it fell over his face where it hadn’t before.

He smiled – Alastor had always been his son, but he felt more secure now that they shared blood. He knew that if anything happened to him, Alastor would be okay because he had plenty of him and Daphne in him – and he had Harry’s magic flowing inside of him. He was very much a part of Harry that he hadn’t been before and as Harry hadn’t had any birth sons, he was grateful for that.

The sound of the door clicking open drew Harry out of his thoughts. He looked around and smiled weakly when he saw Daphne walk in; it took a second longer for him to realise that Bill was behind her.

“How is he?” Daphne asked.

“He’s fine,” Harry replied honestly, “He’s fast asleep, and his pulse is steady.”

Daphne exhaled with relief, “Good, I’ll take over.”

“No, you won’t,” Bill said, “I will. I’ll sit with Alastor while you two get your arses down to the basement and talk or duel, or talk and duel – whatever it takes to get this tension out of your system because we all witnessed whatever that was in the drawing-room earlier this evening.”

Harry nodded, “Yeah, Daphne. Bill’s right, we should talk, and if you need to throw curses at me while I talk, I understand.”

Daphne sighed, “Come on then,” she said, stepping out into the corridor.

Harry followed her out and thanked Bill. When the door to their son's bedroom shut, Harry immediately felt uncomfortable with the amount of tension between himself and his wife.

“I thought we had gotten past all of this,” Daphne said quietly, “Wasn’t this the point of Greece? For all of our secrets to come out – for us to fix things?”

Harry nodded, “I thought we had.”

“I thought we had too, but then that blow out in the drawing-room happened,” Daphne said.

There was an iciness to her voice that Harry didn’t like so he wasn’t surprised when she shut the basement door and drew her wand.

“Is this really how we’re going to talk about it?” Harry asked, pulling his wand from his back pocket.

“Well lots of talking and sex didn’t help, did it?” Daphne retorted, “So maybe a little bit of danger is what it takes to get you to tell the truth.”

Before Harry could argue, she had cried, “ _Obscuro_!”

“Really?” Harry retorted, throwing up a shield charm.

“I can’t beat you fair and square anymore, so let’s see how you cope without your eyesight,” Daphne remarked, “ _Glacius!”_

Harry used the spell he had shown off with earlier and created a ring of fire around himself which then turned to ice when Daphne’s spell hit it.

“Protecting yourself with an ice fortress,” Daphne said with a roll of her eyes, “Is that supposed to be poetic?”

Harry sighed, “I’m sorry for what happened earlier in the drawing-room-”

“ _Stupefy!”_

_“Protego Maxima!_ But Daphne, you don’t have faith in me. Lilly had more faith in me than you did,” Harry defended himself.

_“Ventus!”_

Harry ducked down to stop the strong wind from knocking him backwards.

“Lilly knows what you’re capable of, she’s treated you hundreds of times,” Daphne barked, “But I never see that side of you, do I? And Lilly, even though she’s my best friend, doesn’t tell me the half of it. You two with your dangerous jobs, you keep secrets from Neville and me all the time.”

Harry cast a spell to remove the blindfold, and he put his wand down on a table.

“We don’t keep secrets,” Harry said, his eyes meeting hers, “There are just some things we don’t want to worry you with.”

“Like how close you and Rob were to dying from your idiocy the day Theo died?” Daphne asked furiously, “Like how _you_ saved Lilly’s life because she was seconds away from being hit by a killing curse while she treated Shep during that dragon attack last year? You and Lilly don’t tell us, but we have other friends in the department, Harry. We know how much you both keep to yourselves or between each other.”

“Is this jealousy?” Harry asked in disbelief, “Because yeah, I spend lunches with Lil sometimes when there’s stuff I don’t want to talk to you about, but I keep that stuff from you to protect you, Daphne!”

“So Lilly can handle it and I can’t?” Daphne asked coldly.

“I didn’t say you couldn’t handle it,” Harry barked, “I just don’t want you to have to!”

They stared at each other for a long moment before Daphne spoke.

“You lied today. You lied to me, and you lied to Neville. The only person who knew the truth was Lilly – she knew that your magical core was more powerful than Neville’s.”

“She wasn’t the only person who knew, I spoke to Bill and Theo earlier.”

“I know you did,” Daphne remarked angrily, but then a frown formed on her face, “Wait, he didn’t mention that Theo was there too.”

“Well, he was,” Harry said, “And I know I keep things from you, I know I always have done, and I know that you hate it so come here.”

Daphne frowned as Harry picked his wand up and held out his other hand.

“Why?”

“Just trust me,” Harry said, his eyes boring into hers.

Daphne took his hand, albeit a little reluctantly.

Harry’s focus didn’t waver from her, as he said, “Legilimens!”

At first, Daphne thought he was trying to force his way into her head, but then she realised that he was letting her inside _his_. When she opened her eyes, she frowned around at the grounds of Hogwarts.

“It’s my happy place – you know where your brain goes when you try to make it all blank so you can think clearly?” Harry explained.

Daphne nodded.

“Telling you isn’t enough anymore, I’ve kept too much from you,” Harry confessed.

“There are still some things from the war that you haven’t told me about,” Daphne said quietly, “And we have been married for nearly six years, Harry.”

“I know,” Harry said, “Which is why I’m going to take you through a ‘This is your life’ montage, Harry Potter style.”

At first, Daphne had no idea what he meant, but then the Hogwarts grounds began to shake and rumble until they fell away completely. Realisation dawned in Daphne’s eyes when she saw Harry as a toddler, getting pushed around by Dudley – he would fall and cry, and Petunia wouldn’t even look his way. The scenes shifted rapidly to Harry being violently thrown in his cupboard for asking about his parents, to Harry being beaten up by Dudley, to Vernon's beatings after each occasion where Harry used accidental magic.

Daphne had tears in her eyes by the time they got to Harry’s Hogwarts years. She felt like she knew a lot about that already but seeing it first hand from Harry’s point of view was different. The horrific things from his life all flashed in front of them quickly – Quirrell/Voldemort disintegrating upon his touch, Hermione after the Basilisk had petrified her, the chamber of secrets, Tom Riddle, Ginny Weasley lying there half-dead. Then there was the werewolf chasing him and Hermione through the forest, the hundreds of Dementors, the screaming of his mother, his fathers shouts, and there was Sirius about to get the Dementors kiss.

By the time they reached fourth year, Daphne had silent tears rolling down her cheeks. She saw it all from his perspective – the dragon attacking him, thinking he was going to drown in the black lake, the maze, Cedric’s body flying across the graveyard in a flash of green light, being pinned to the tombstone, Voldemort rising from the cauldron. Then there was Umbridge and the torture sessions. There was the ministry – watching Ron get hurt by the brains, watching Neville get hurt, watching Luna get hurt, seeing Ginny in pain and then that curse that hit Hermione. For the first time, Daphne saw and felt how Harry had felt when that curse hit his best friend, and she felt his fear that he had lost her, she felt his pain and his guilt.

Sirius’s death was the worst yet. She knew it had hurt him, but she hadn’t realised how much and she almost choked on her tears as everything Harry had felt in that moment flooded her. The next year flashed past and culminated in Dumbledore’s death then there was the war, and being on the run. There was the pain of everything that he and Hermione had put themselves through – Godric’s Hollow, the gravestones, the snake biting him, Malfoy Manor, hearing Hermione’s screams from that draughty basement. There was the battle, the deaths – each one hitting Harry in the chest like a bullet up until the final one – the moment Voldemort dropped to the ground.

As it all faded away, Daphne felt overwhelmed with grief. She turned to Harry, who looked sad, but not anywhere near as grief-stricken as she felt.

“How did you survive it all?”

“I don’t know,” Harry replied honestly, “But I do know what keeps me sane. The thing that stops me from reliving it all? From falling back into that nightmare? It’s you, Daphne.”

Daphne wiped her eyes and nodded, taking a deep breath.

“I…uh…I understand why you couldn’t talk about all of that so thank you for…for showing me.”

Harry nodded, “I need to show you what happened earlier today too because you’re right, I did keep things from you and Neville.”

The scene around them changed until Daphne realised that they were outside of Grimmauld Place – sitting in the park across the road.

_“You asked us to meet, cryptically,” Theo said, “What’s with the James Bond-ness of all of this?”_

_“I just didn’t want to worry Daphne or Neville with it,” Harry said honestly, “As you both know – with any luck, tonight Alastor will be given magic from myself and Neville so that his magical core can fix itself from the inside out.”_

_Bill and Theo both nodded._

_“But what I need from you guys – specifically you, Theo – is the answer to a mathematical question,” Harry admitted, “I know I have more magic than Neville, but he doesn’t know that. I don’t want us to give Al the same amount because for Neville, that’s more so what I need you to tell me is roughly how much we should each give to make it equal.”_

_“It would be a rough guess,” Theo warned._

_“A rough guess is better than nothing,” Harry pointed out, “If we both give him say 25% of our magic, that’s going to affect Neville more than me and…there’s…”_

_“I get it,” Theo said, “And I think Bill will too.”_

_Bill frowned, “Enlighten me.”_

_“Your magic is tied to your lifespan,” Theo reminded Bill, “Harry doesn’t want to live for years without Neville. Just like you wouldn’t want to live years after Charlie had died and just like I wouldn’t want to live for years after Draco had died.”_

_Bill’s eyes widened, “Right, I get it.”_

_Harry nodded, “So do you think it’s do-able?”_

_Bill thought about it for a moment._

_“Yes. Owl me with the numbers before I leave for Potter Manor tonight, Theo. I can discretely put a spell on both you and Neville, Harry, which will make alarm bells ring in your heads when your magic is at the point we don’t want it to go lower than. It will mean Neville will pull out before you, but his magic will still help you kickstart the charm and get it flowing into Alastor.”_

_Harry nodded, “Thank you, Bill,” he said sincerely as the oldest Weasley left the park._

_“I get it, Harry,” Theo said honestly, “More than you might think.”_

_Harry turned to look at Theo._

_“Yeah?”_

_“Yeah,” Theo sighed, “I’ve not prepped them for it yet because it’s still years and years away and it seems stupid to worry about something that won’t happen for 60 years yet, but I know I’m going to be the first to go.”_

_Harry frowned and looked away from Theo._

_“My magical core hasn’t gotten back to normal,” Theo confessed, “Even with Draco topping it up, it’s not full anymore, and it never will be. Out of the four of us, it’s going to be me who goes first, and I don’t mean a couple of years before the rest of them – I mean decades before them. I was thinking about it the other day, and it makes me believe that everything happens for a reason. I had my kids when I was 20 years old, and yeah, that was hard, but if I’ve only got another 60 years left then that means they’ll be 65 when I go. I’ll see them get married, I’ll see them have their own kids, and yeah, I probably won’t see my grandkids grow up into adults but Harry – that’s a damn sight better than it could have been.”_

_“How do you know you’ve got 60 years left?” Harry asked, looking over at him._

_Theo smiled sadly, “Maths – just like you want me to do for you and Neville. It’s a rough guide so my estimate of 60 could be 55 or it could be 65, but it gives me a ballpark to work with.”_

_“What about us, then?” Harry asked, looking at Theo._

_Theo glanced around to make sure they were alone; then he cast a notice-me-not charm around their bench._

_“I’ve seen Daphne and Neville’s magical cores so if I focus on that memory with you in my head – you can work it out, right?”_

_Theo nodded._

_“Then do it.”_

_Theo cast the spell, and Harry showed him in turn – Daphne’s magical core, Neville’s magical core and then his own._

_When he was done, Theo wrote a bunch of numbers down and spent a good few minutes working out some difficult equations while Harry resorted to people watching._

_“Okay,” Theo said, looking up nervously at Harry, “Are you sure you want to hear this?”_

_Harry nodded, “What’s your estimate for Daphne?”_

_“115,” Theo replied, “Same age as Dumbledore was when he died – she’s a powerful witch, Harry.”_

_“I know she is,” Harry said, “What about Neville?”_

_“150,” Theo answered, “He’s powerful, you know he is.”_

_Harry nodded, “What about me, then? It’s longer than Neville, isn’t it?”_

_Theo nodded._

_“How much longer?” Harry asked, eyeing Theo warily._

_“Honestly – if it hadn’t been for the alcohol and the general strain you’ve put yourself through with your suicide attempt – you probably would have beaten Dippet.”_

_Harry’s heart sank._

_“Dippet was over 300 years old, Theo.”_

_“I know,” Theo said, his eyes meeting Harry’s, “With magic like yours, I’m putting you at about 200, Harry.”_

_Harry shook his head, “That’s not happening, Theo – I don’t want that.”_

_“I know you don’t,” Theo promised, “So if you give Alastor 25% of your magic, that takes you to 150 – equal with Neville if he doesn’t give any magic.”_

_“Then he can’t do it,” Harry said simply._

_“Just hear me out,” Theo interrupted, “Let Neville think he’s helping. Let him give enough magic to kickstart the process – that’s 5% alright? And that 5% is going to knock seven years off his life, takes him towards 140 years old, right? So you need to give Alastor just over a quarter of your magic – give or take 28%, and that puts you and Neville on an equal footing.”_

_“Will you owl that all over to Bill?” Harry asked._

_Theo nodded, “Of course I will.”_

_Harry thanked Theo, but as the former Slytherin got up to leave, Harry placed his hand on his wrist._

_“Theo, are you really calculating yourself at 85? That’s when you’ll die?”_

_“If I’m lucky I’ll hit 90,” Theo said with a sad smile, “But my magic has been strained and messed with one too many times, Harry.”_

_“What about the others?” Harry asked, “Do you know for sure?”_

_“Draco and Hermione are on a par with Neville,” Theo said honestly, “And Sadie, she’s about equal with Daphne, and I suspect, Lilly. I’d probably have had the same odds as them if not for Lucia.”_

_“So you’re talking 30 years?” Harry asked, “You’ll die 30 years before Sadie?”_

_Theo nodded, “And yeah, I haven’t told her that but how the hell do you break that news to your wife?”_

_Harry nodded, “Yeah, I…I get that but Theo, can I be honest with you?”_

_Theo turned to look at him and nodded._

_Harry spoke softly, “That’s assuming it’s all just based on old age, and we have no idea what could happen. If you do die that young…I don’t think Sadie will last 30 years without you, I think she would die from a broken heart.”_

_Theo smiled sadly, “As romantic as that is, I don’t think it’s physically possible but thanks anyway, Harry,” he said, getting to his feet and heading for the gate of the park._

When the memory ended, Harry gently nudged Daphne out of his head and looked at her in the real world.

“Are you seriously telling me that you gave away so much more magic than Neville did because you’re so scared of being left on your own?” Daphne asked her husband in disbelief.

Harry could only nod.

“Have you thought about your kids at all?” Daphne asked him, “You won’t be alone, Harry. You’ll have all four of your children and all of the grandchildren they will inevitably give us. The world doesn’t revolve around me.”

“Mine does,” Harry cut in, his eyes piercing into hers.

Daphne opened her mouth, but she couldn’t find words strong enough to express what those two words meant to her. His eyes were blazing; his face was harder than she had ever seen it.

“Six years on and you still don’t know how much you mean to me,” Harry said with a shake of his head, “Don’t you get it? If I’d lived to over 200, I would have had half of my life with you and half of it without you.”

Daphne swallowed.

“Those kids you just mentioned?” Harry continued, “Unless they were extraordinarily magical which I can guarantee you that Teddy and Alastor are not – I would have to bury them. Do you think I can handle burying you, Neville, Lilly and then all four of our children? Because I can’t, Daphne.”

She bowed her head in a nod.

“Even now, assuming we live ordinary lives and I don’t get hit by any life-altering curses,” Harry pointed out, “Neville and I are still going to have 25 years without you and Lilly.”

Daphne sighed, “You don’t know that. Theo said it himself; this whole thing is about guessing and Harry; we have no idea what’s around the corner. I could be tired one day and touch a cursed object I shouldn’t touch. You could be a little off one day and get hit by an unshieldable, lethal curse. You’re 25 years old; you can’t be thinking about what’s going to happen when you’re 105, that’s not living. You need to live in the now, or you’re going to become like Dumbledore – just arranging things, setting things up.”

Harry frowned at that – Daphne knew that he never wanted to become like Dumbledore.

Daphne rested her hand on his cheek.

“There is some truth to be found in a quote from Morgana Le Fay, you know?”

Harry looked up at his wife.

“Sometimes we live too long,” Daphne said softly, “Sometimes we live so long that we can’t see ourselves becoming the villain until it’s too late.”

“So you think I did the right thing?” Harry asked, his eyes meeting hers.

“I think you did the right thing, but you should never have done it without talking to me first,” Daphne confessed, “You gave away 60 years of your life, Harry. You did that without discussing it with anyone who loves you – you did that without telling me or without telling the man you consider to be your brother.”

Harry swallowed and nodded.

“I’m sorry.”

“I know you are, but this has to stop,” Daphne said sincerely, “We are a partnership – a team. We would have made the same decision together this time, but if this happens again, you can’t guarantee that. Your decisions impact _our_ children, just as my decisions do. From now on, we make them together, _all of them_.”

Harry gave her a small nod.

“Agreed,” he said simply.

Daphne didn’t nod back. She just took a step towards him, closing the distance between them and crashing her lips against his. Harry murmured an apology as he lifted her onto the bar, but she shook her head and silenced him with her lips.

* * *

The following morning, Harry confessed the truth to the others. Teddy was upstairs in the drawing-room, having had his breakfast already. Thea was still asleep, and Alastor and Andrea were drawing together. Harry and Daphne couldn’t stop glancing over at their son even though he was fine and had been from the moment he had woken up that morning.

“So…” Harry said awkwardly, “I wasn’t truthful with you yesterday, Nev.”

“I know you weren’t,” Neville remarked, without looking up from the Daily Prophet.

Harry frowned, “Wait…what?”

“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice Bill ‘discretely’ placing a charm on me?” Neville asked, looking up at Harry in disbelief, “How bad an Auror do you think I was?”

Harry opened his mouth, couldn’t think what he ought to say, and shut it again.

“What did you do?” Lilly asked calmly.

“I lied about how much of your magic you would be giving,” Harry told Neville, “I…uh…I went to Bill and Theo. I got Theo to do some maths and work out our lifespans based on our current levels of magic, and I gave Alastor more than you did.”

“How much more?” Neville asked warily.

“A little bit more,” Harry answered evasively.

Daphne shot him an irritated look.

“Tell him the truth – he’s your brother.”

Harry sighed, “About 25% more.”

“I’m sure you have a good reason for doing that,” Neville said, his eyes narrowing, “But I doubt any reason you can come up with as to why you didn’t tell me will be good enough.”

Harry felt his heart sink.

“I did it because, as I suspected, my magical power is greater than yours. Theo had me living to 200; he said if it wasn’t for my alcoholism and my suicide attempt, I might even have beaten Dippet.”

Lilly’s eyes widened, “Dippet was 355.”

“I know,” Harry said darkly, “Look, Theo had me living 50 years longer than you, Neville and selfishly, I decided that I didn’t want that so I gave enough magic to be on an equal footing with you and I used your magic to kickstart the spell.”

“So I was right – you had a good reason for doing it,” Neville said coolly, casting his gaze back down to his newspaper.

Harry grimaced and leant against the kitchen counter.

“I didn’t tell you because I’m scared for you. Ever since you got home from the hospital, you’ve been fluctuating between okay and depressed. I didn’t want to start talking to you about lifespans and…I just wanted to take care of it all so that you didn’t have to bear the burden of any of it.

Harry sighed and shook his head as he struggled to find the right words.

“Because he’s my son, it’s my burden to bear – not yours.”

Lilly threw her newspaper down and snapped.

“You need to start listening to us, Harry Potter. You went away with Daphne, you talked to her, but it obviously didn’t go in because you still kept something from her. You have heart to hearts with Neville, but you still keep things from him. How many times do we all need to tell you the same shit before you start listening, Harry? We are in this together; we are a family. Do you know what that means?”

“Of course I do,” Harry said.

Lilly shook her head, “See; I don’t think you do because until now – you’ve never had a real family, but family is there, through good, bad, all of it. They’ve got your back, even when it hurts. How can we have your back when you don’t tell us the truth? We can’t, okay? So quit holding it in and bottling it up. You have us now, you’re not alone anymore, and you never have to be again. Stop worrying about us leaving, about all of us dying before you and enjoy the moment, enjoy being a part of this incredibly weird and wonderful family that you helped create. We weren’t born into this, we made it, and the three of us aren’t going to let you keep trying to throw it away.”

Harry couldn’t find the words to say ‘thank you’, so he moved around the breakfast bar and wrapped his arms around the Ravenclaw.

Daphne smiled at Lilly.

“Well said.”

Neville nodded his agreement.

“Uh-huh. Quit hugging me now, please,” Lilly said with a grimace, “It’s making me nauseous.”

“Sorry,” Harry said sheepishly. He drew back and looked around at them all, “I do need to stop thinking about the future and start living in the moment, you’re all right, and I promise this time, I’ll start listening to you.”

“Good,” Neville said. He cleared his throat, “And you’re right about me too. I have been depressed. I’ve been searching for things to occupy my time, and none of them have been cutting it, so I’m going to go into the department and talk to Shep tomorrow about working a desk. I can’t sit around the house moping until next September when I start my job as Herbology professor.”

Harry grinned broadly, “That would be great. I mean even if you were just working a desk, being able to see you at lunch-time and brainstorm cases with you would just make my day. It’s shit watching Draco go off to chat to Theo every lunch-time while I know you’re back here all by yourself.”

Neville smiled too, “I thought a clean break from the department would be easiest, but I look at Theo, and it’s clear to see - half of his healing came from going back.”

Lilly smiled, “I wanted to suggest something similar to you a while ago.”

“So did I,” Daphne admitted, “But you’re a typical stubborn Gryffindor, you had to come to that conclusion by yourself.”

Harry and Neville both laughed at that, and with the hope ignited in Harry that Neville might come back to the department – even briefly – he felt better than he had in weeks.

* * *

Harry was in high spirits later that day when he, Daphne and the kids went to Grimmauld Place for lunch. Unlike Sunday lunch at the Burrow – there was minimal drama while they ate their meal. They did all laugh at Theo’s expense as he told them all about how animals seemed to love him now that the Healers had removed the prank curse that they had discovered while he had been in hospital after Lucia’s attack. Hermione was furious because her cat, Octavia, spent more time curled up with Theo than with her and had even taken to sleeping in Theo and Sadie’s bed.

After lunch, they split up into smaller groups, and the children all played together at one end of the drawing-room.

“When will the castle be finished, my love?” Narcissa asked Draco.

“Soon, I hope,” Draco answered, “The windows have all been replaced, and the new heating system has been installed but as expected, installing electricity is proving a little difficult.”

“It will be worth it when it’s done,” Hermione said, shooting her husband a grateful smile.

Draco smiled back at her, and Narcissa was pleased to see the pleasant exchange too. However, before they could discuss the renovations with the castle further, there was a small incident amongst the children – they were all playing with magical toys, but Alastor had just picked up a toy wand, and his hands began to glow.

Harry and Daphne spotted it at the same time because they had been watching their son closely. Their eyes widened with panic and Harry cast a shield charm around Alastor instantly, just in case something drastic happened.

They rose to their feet and moved towards Alastor, but Narcissa reached him before they could.

“Alastor, my love,” Narcissa said, grabbing both of the little boy's hands, “You must calm down and control this feeling before someone gets hurt. Look at my eyes.”

Alastor looked straight at her.

“That warm feeling in your stomach right now,” Narcissa said gently, “You must make it cold. Think of ice, snow, flowing waterfalls.”

Whatever she was saying was working because Alastor’s hands began to dim.

“That’s it,” Narcissa said softly, “Take a deep breath and calm down.”

Alastor sucked in a deep breath and puffed out – his hands restored to normalcy now.

“Well done, darling,” Narcissa said, pulling him into a relieved hug.

Harry and Daphne both let out breaths that they hadn’t realised they had been holding. Daphne hurried over to Alastor and pulled him into a hug, murmuring a profound thank you to Narcissa as she did so.

Harry drew back and said, “That was amazing.”

Draco, who was standing by his side, nodded.

“She knows all about control.”

Harry frowned, “Why did you have to say that so bitterly?”

“Because my memory of my mother teaching me control is not a happy one,” Draco remarked dryly, “I was around the same age as Alastor when she started to drum it into me, and it worked because I remember her words as clear as day.”

Harry’s frown deepened as he turned to look at his Auror partner.

“She would say – Draco, you must control your magic around your father. You must remain calm even when he makes you very angry and upset. You must think of ice; you must think of an ice fortress and hide inside it when he upsets you. You cannot lose control of your magic, or he will be very angry,” Draco said quietly – his eyes on his mother as she spoke softly to Alastor.

“She taught me how to control myself around my father, so he didn’t lose his temper and beat me,” Draco finished darkly, “So forgive me for not being grateful.”

“I can understand why you feel that way,” Harry said honestly, “But look at her, she’s a wonderful Grandmother.”

“Well she wasn’t a wonderful mother,” Draco muttered bitterly.

Harry shook his head, “Nah, that’s not on Draco – she was. She did the best she could in a terrible situation. What do you think would have happened if she hadn’t taught you control? If she had let you piss your father off? What do you think he would have done if she had left? To her? To you? Because I can guarantee you that it wouldn’t be pretty.”

Draco tensed his jaw but said nothing.

“You’re alive,” Harry said, “She kept you alive, and by some miracle, you’re a good person with a good career. You’re an Auror; you save peoples lives every single day, you make a difference in the world. You have a good wife, great kids and a solid moral compass. Do you think any of that is because of your father? Because it’s not, it’s because of _her_.”

Harry and Draco hadn’t realised that as they argued, they got closer until they were virtually nose to nose, both glaring and each other and looking more like the schoolboy enemies that they used to be than they had in _many_ years.

“So yeah, Draco, she’s a pretty amazing mother,” Harry finished, “And you’re lucky enough to have that because that’s something I never had so get over yourself. Start appreciating her while she’s still here because we both saw what happened to Andromeda – grow up, tell your mother that you love her and for the love of Merlin, apologise for being a shitty son over the last few years.”

“You’re my Auror partner, Harry and out of respect for that, I will not curse you for what you just said to me,” Draco said icily, “Because I do abide by the code we all recited when we were sworn in, but don’t you dare try to tell me how to live my life again.”

He backed away and stalked out of the room without another word, and Harry moved over to Narcissa, who was still with Alastor. She smiled and hugged him, and from a couch by the fire – the women in the family gossiped.

“I never thought I would see the day,” Daphne said with a shake of her head, “Harry Potter _, my_ husband, defending Narcissa Malfoy to Draco Malfoy.”

“Slight flaw in your observations there,” Sadie mused as she popped a cashew in her mouth, “Neither of them are Malfoy’s anymore – one is a Black and the other went back to being a Black only to become a Greengrass.”

“And is technically your step-mother,” Hermione piped up, sipping her wine.

Daphne made a face, “I’m married to Harry Potter, Narcissa Black-Malfoy-Black-Greengrass is my step-mother. Draco Malfoy-Black, my ex-boyfriend and first shag, is my step-brother and he’s married to the Gryffindor princess.”

“Hmm,” Sadie said as she chewed thoughtfully, “And I’m married to Theodore Nott.”

“That’s literally the only thing I’m not surprised about, Sadie,” Daphne remarked matter of factly.

Hermione sipped her wine and nodded.

“Well, I just watched Harry Potter – the scrawny, underfed little kid who thought he had all the magical ability of a squib kicking my husband to the curb. That husband, of course, being Draco Black- formerly Malfoy - the dickhead who called me a mudblood more times than I can count. I mean Harry was a weedy little boy and an incredibly awkward teenager who was _my_ first shag. Now he’s Marquess Potter, the youngest ever Assistant Head Auror and he’s married to Daphne Greengrass - the girl he had wet dreams about and couldn’t conjure up a sentence around in high school.”

Sadie snorted, “Seriously though – is nobody surprised that I’m married to Theodore Nott?”

“No,” Hermione and Daphne chorused.

“Stop making this about you, Sadie,” Daphne joked.

“Yeah, Sadie,” Hermione cut in with a grin.

Sadie rolled her eyes at them.

“You two are bitches when you drink wine. You know that, right?”

Hermione chuckled, “I’m sorry, but I didn’t even know you and Theo that well, and I thought you were a couple.”

“See,” Daphne smirked, “Nobody expected me to marry Harry Potter.”

“Even if you did make eyes at him for an entire year in Potions,” Sadie cut in.

“Nobody noticed that apart from you and Tracey,” Daphne pointed out.

“I did,” Hermione chirped.

Daphne rolled her eyes, “Whatever – everyone knew you secretly fancied Draco, you didn’t make it half obvious.”

“Oh, whatever,” Hermione muttered as she went back to her wine.

* * *

Draco didn’t talk to his mother until the Potters left later that afternoon. It was only then when he found himself surrounded by his own family that he felt comfortable enough to sit down next to her by the fire and sigh heavily.

“Do not apologise to me just because Harry told you to,” Narcissa said sternly, “I do not want to hear it if it is not how you feel.”

“It is how I feel,” Draco promised, “Harry’s right, I don’t appreciate you enough these days.”

They fell silent – Draco stared into the fire and concentrated on the flames that danced away there.

“After the war, I was so grateful to you. I was grateful for everything that you had done for me, but when I…when I became a father, I…it changed.”

“I know it did,” Narcissa said quietly.

“I look at Elladora and Caspian,” Draco said, his eyes moving across the room to his family. Hermione was braiding Elladora’s hair and rocking Caspian in a bouncy chair by her feet, “I look at them, and my heart just swells with love. I would never put them in a dangerous situation, and I would do anything to protect them from harm.”

Draco swallowed and looked back to his mother.

“And for a long time after Elladora was born, I thought that you hadn’t done that. I thought that you had willingly raised me in a dangerous environment and that you had let all of those terrible things happen.”

Narcissa’s eyes filled with tears when her son spoke those words.

“I can see now that isn’t true,” Draco said quietly, “That it was the opposite. You couldn’t leave, and I didn’t understand that then, but I understand it now. He trapped you, and you did the best you could in a bad situation, Harry is right about that. I’m sorry for not appreciating all the good that you did because you did so much good, Mum.”

Narcissa looked up – even now, he very rarely called her that.

“You are the reason for all of the good in me,” Draco confessed, “The solid moral compass, the ability to treat a woman like Hermione with enough respect to keep her by my side? The ability to love the way that I can, that’s all from you. I’m sorry for pushing you away and for keeping your grandchildren from you, I truly am.”

Narcissa bowed her head.

“Thank you.”

Draco reached across and took her hand in his. She wouldn’t look up at him, but Draco expected that it was because she was trying to hold back tears.

“I love you,” Draco said simply, “I’m sorry that I don’t tell you that enough.”

Narcissa visibly swallowed then she blinked away the tears in her eyes and smiled at her son.

“I love you too, Draco.”

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	52. Caught in the Crossfire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daphne and Theo break open the magical creatures gone wild case for the Aurors, and John has to have a difficult discussion with Harry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:  
> Crossfire by Brandon Flowers.

The first thing Harry did when he walked into the Auror department on Monday morning was pop his head into the Homicide Office. It was early, so he didn’t expect the entire team to be there, but he knew that Draco liked to get an early start.

“Hey,” Harry said with a smile, waving absentmindedly to Terry, who was also in the office.

“I just wanted to apologise for yesterday. You were right to be pissed off at the way I spoke to you.”

Draco waved his hand.

“It’s fine – you were right, I was an ungrateful brat, and I apologised to my mother.”

“I’m glad to hear that, but I shouldn’t have spoken to you the way I did,” Harry said honestly.

“You shouldn’t have,” Draco agreed, “But like I said, it’s fine. I have bigger things to worry about.”

“Like?” Harry asked curiously.

Draco flipped the murder board on the opposite wall with a flick of his fingers. Harry frowned when he looked at the images.

“When did this come in?”

“Early this morning,” Draco replied, “I woke Terry up, and we went to have a look at the body. There’s no doubt about it - it’s another vampire attack.”

“The same vampire?” Harry asked.

Draco shrugged, “There’s no way of knowing.”

“No, but if both victims were familiars then there’s a way of checking if it’s the same coven,” Harry pointed out, “Did you get Justin to check for any tattoos or sigils?”

Draco nodded, “He said there weren’t any.”

“Well I’ll head down to the morgue and have a look myself, but first I’ve got to do Tam’s appraisal,” Harry said with a roll of his eyes, “Four more days and I’m done being a paper pusher.”

“Has Caroline cleared you for active duty?”

Harry shook his head, “No, but I do have a meeting with her this afternoon. It was supposed to be this morning, but I wanted to get these appraisals finished, so I fought her back.”

Draco shot Harry a knowing look.

“You bought her coffee.”

“Pumpkin spiced coffee,” Harry said, winking at Draco, “I’ll check out the stiffs and get back to you later this morning, okay?”

“Yeah,” Draco said, brushing Harry off and looking back to his murder board.

* * *

True to his word, Harry got through Tam O’Shanter’s appraisal and got up to head down to the morgue. However, before he could – John stepped into his office.

“Oi, where do you think you’re going?”

“To the morgue,” Harry answered honestly.

John frowned, “Why?”

“To tell Justin that he’s a bit shit at his job, hopefully,” Harry replied sarcastically.

John raised an eyebrow.

“Go on?”

“He said there were no identifying marks on the body of the first vampire victim,” Harry explained, “But if she was a vampire’s familiar – the coven would have marked her.”

“You think they concealed it?” John asked.

Harry nodded, “Yep, and with any luck – the second vampire victim will have the same mark. If we can trace it back to the same coven, that’s something.”

“True,” John agreed, “But before you go, look at your appraisal list.”

Harry glanced down, “I’m next.”

John nodded, “Uh-huh.”

“But I can’t do my own appraisal,” Harry said stupidly.

“Well done, Sherlock,” John said with a smirk, “I’m doing your appraisal.”

“Oh…shit,” Harry muttered.

John laughed, “There’s not much to appraise, Harry. You’re doing great, and I wrote as much in your appraisal – I just need you to jot down your personal goal and your future aspirations.”

Harry picked up a quill and spoke as he wrote.

“Personal goal for the next year, get a better work-life balance,” he muttered to himself, “And don’t try to kill myself again.”

“Good start,” John said, watching the younger man with interest.

“Future aspirations – be where you’re standing right now Shep,” Harry finished, jotting down “ _Make it to Head Auror before I’m 30_.”

John nodded, “Alright. How are you feeling about going back to full-time at the end of the week?”

“Fine,” Harry said honestly, “With any luck, Caroline will put me back in the field so I can split my time between Homicide and my duty as Assistant Head.”

“Perfect,” John said with a grin, “How are the appraisals going? Do you have any real concerns?”

“A couple,” Harry admitted.

“Who?” John queried.

“I’m not sure Stewart Ackerley will cut it unless he can get over his nerves and Euan Abercrombie is a loose cannon,” Harry began, “But the big one is Roger Davies.”

“Harry, you can’t fire him because he wants to shag your wife,” John said in exasperation.

“I didn’t say I wanted to fire him,” Harry cut in, “But he’s not here for the right reasons, Shep. He wants to be a politician but one with a good background – he wants to be able to stand up in the Wizengamot and give it “ _when I was an Auror when I protected our fine nation”._ He’s a prick, and he’s a shit Auror.”

“Agreed,” John said, “But he’s not putting anyone in danger so I can’t give him a warning for reckless endangerment. Realistically, we leave him in Missing Persons until he realises that he’s not going to get anywhere, and then he’ll quit. Its called managing out and it’s a tactic you’re going to have to get used to.”

Harry nodded, “Yeah,” he sighed, “Is that all? Because I really need to get down to the morgue.”

John bowed his head.

“One last thing, Harry. When are you meant to be doing Rob’s appraisal?”

“Wednesday,” Harry replied, “But that won’t happen obviously – it’s the full moon on Wednesday, so I’ll do his review next week sometime.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” John said, “I’ll do it tomorrow. It can be weird, giving the person who was your mentor an appraisal, you know?”

Harry nodded, “That’s one less awkward one to worry about, thanks, Shep.”

“Don’t sweat it,” John said, disappearing back into his office.

* * *

After nearly losing his temper with Justin – Harry was walking up the main corridor when John stepped out of his office.

“Hey, Shep – can I fire Justin?”

“Not without my permission,” John called back.

“Do you give me permission to fire Justin?” Harry asked, coming to a stop outside the Homicide Office.

“Why do you want to fire him so badly?” John asked calmly.

“Because he’s a shit Medical Examiner?” Harry retorted.

“He’s not that bad, and technically, he doesn’t report to us so we can’t fire him anyway,” John said, shooting Harry a grin, “I need to get cracking – I’ve got Neville in my office.”

“You’re finding a job for him, aren’t you?” Harry asked, his eyes meeting his bosses.

“I’ve got a few ideas,” John said, grabbing a folder out of the filing room, “Let’s hope he goes for one of them.”

Harry grinned and nodded.

“Thank you,” he said, opening the door to the Homicide Office and stepping inside, right into an argument.

“It was the same vampire!” Ben was saying.

“You don’t know that, you’re going on a hunch, and that’s a stupid thing to do,” Jason argued.

“Hunches get you killed,” Terry agreed.

“But they can also prove to be right,” Harry said loudly, snapping the door shut behind him, “I don’t know if it was the same vampire, but I do know that it was the same coven.”

“How?” Five voices asked all at once.

“Because our medical examiner is useless and didn’t think to look for hidden marks,” Harry said, pinning up two photographs, “See that? Same branding mark on their right arms a.k.a – same coven.”

“As much as that feels like a breakthrough after staring at a blank wall all week,” Terry said dryly, “It doesn’t help us at all, does it?”

Draco shook his head, “Not unless we can get inside that coven which we can’t do because our Assistant Head Auror will never go for my plan.”

Harry frowned, “I’m the Assistant Head Auror.”

“Exactly,” Draco drawled, “Hence how I know you will never go for it.”

“Try me,” Harry said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I go in undercover as a vampire,” Draco said.

Harry appeared to think about this briefly, and then he shook his head.

“You’re right – that’s a terrible plan, I’ll never go for it. But keep at this, okay? You’ll find another way, and once I’m done with these reviews, I’ll come in and see if I can lend another set of eyes to all of this.”

Draco rolled his eyes after Harry left the office.

“Bloody Gryffindors – they’re so quick to sacrifice themselves, but they’ll never put anyone else at risk.”

“I don’t think he’s that complex to be honest, mate,” Jason said, leaning back in his chair, “He just doesn’t want to put you in danger because that’s a stupid ass plan and you’re married to his best friend.”

“He’s like the godfather to your kids and shit,” Owen agreed.

“No, he isn’t,” Draco said, picking up his file, “Harry has enough godkids, he wasn’t getting mine. Theo is the Godfather to my children.”

“Course he is,” Ben said with a slight smile.

Draco sighed, “And speaking of Theo, I’m going to check in with him in the hope that he has some good news for us because we are getting nowhere here.”

Jason nodded his agreement.

“Yeah, give him a kick up the arse, would you? We need something solid.”

“I know,” Draco said with a sigh. He kicked the door open a little more violently than he needed to and stalked down the corridor to Theo’s cupboard. Without knocking, he stepped inside and was surprised to come face to face with someone else.

“Rude.”

“He doesn’t need to knock, it’s Draco,” Theo’s voice said from behind the desk.

“How did you know it was Draco?” Daphne asked, “You didn’t even look up.”

“A door slammed then I recognised his angry footsteps the moment they hit the corridor outside,” Theo said, looking up at his best friend, “What’s up?”

“Harry said my plan was stupid,” Draco practically huffed, “What’s she doing here?”

Daphne raised an eyebrow at him.

“Theo and I are working together; thank you very much.”

Draco crossed his arms, “Uh-huh. Are you an Auror?”

“No, but what do you know about cursed boxes?” Daphne shot back.

Draco wanted to argue with her on that one, but he grimaced.

“Nothing.”

“Exactly,” Daphne remarked.

“Where are your kids?”

“Our,” Daphne realised her mistake straight away and changed tack, “ _Your_ mother is watching them.”

“Our Mother?” Draco said. He had cottoned on to what she had almost said.

“Shut up,” Daphne said, looking down at the parchment in Theo’s hands.

“Do I even need to tell you how disturbing it is to hear the girl I slept within at least four abandoned classrooms referring to the woman who raised me as _our_ Mother?” Draco deadpanned.

“I can’t believe I almost said that,” Daphne muttered under her breath, “And yes, it’s disturbing. It’s incredibly disturbing that my father seduced your mother, okay? But my father has never been paternal, and my mother is rotting in jail, so your mother is the only maternal figure I have, okay?”

“Okay,” Draco conceded.

“Finished with the little sibling fight?” Theo asked.

“We’re not siblings!” Daphne and Draco echoed.

Theo’s grin widened.

“Aw, that’s cute. You do kind of look like siblings, do you feel weird about all that sex you had now?”

“Do you want to hex him or shall I?” Daphne asked Draco calmly.

“Oh, you’d definitely make it more interesting,” Draco said, perching on the edge of Theo’s desk.

Theo smirked, “What stupid plan did Harry veto?”

“I wanted to go undercover into the coven,” Draco said offhandedly.

“As a vampire?” Daphne asked.

“No, as a werewolf,” Draco said sarcastically, “Obviously as a vampire for Salazar’s sake!”

“Merlin, you really are like siblings,” Theo snorted, “And just for the record by the way – it is a shit plan. I mean I know you’re pasty but do you really think you’d pass as a vampire?”

“I’d use a charm to stop my heart obviously, and I’m not that pasty,” Draco muttered.

“You are,” Theo shot back, “And you don’t really think that’s going to work, do you? A 700-year-old vampire is going to see through that cheap trick.”

Draco rolled his eyes and huffed.

“You sound like my wife.”

“Well, she is my cousin,” Theo grinned, “Now, do you want the good news?”

Draco looked down sharply, “You have good news?”

“Oh yeah,” Theo grinned, “Daph was right – this has happened before – 117 years ago, to be precise.”

Draco was instantly listening.

“Go on.”

“London, 1888 – Whitechapel,” Theo said, his eyes meeting Draco’s.

“Jack the Ripper,” Draco said with a frown.

“Widely believed to be a vampire,” Theo said with a nod, “We had a hunch, so we looked into his victims more closely, and every single one of them was in the Whitechapel region. That was intriguing because Daphne reckons that a curse this powerful wouldn’t be able to cover a wide radius.”

Draco nodded, “He killed five people, didn’t he?”

“Yes,” Daphne replied, “Each body was mutilated in the way a vampire ripper would do. You know that they destroy their victims while they feed, right?”

Draco nodded again, “Yeah, but that’s just one vampire, isn’t it? It’s not the same as all of the magical creatures going wild.”

“Not on its own which is why it took us a little while to connect the dots,” Theo said, leaning forward on his desk, “But what if Jack the Ripper wasn’t one person? What if it was five tame vampires all turning ripper?”

Draco’s eyes widened, “Yes…yeah, that would make sense.”

“All of the attacks happened between the 7th of August and the 10th of September,” Daphne added, “And in that time there were two full moons.”

“Check this,” Theo said, his eyes on Draco, “The first full moon was the 7th of August, the same day as the first vampire attack and on that night – two werewolves attacked a bunch of kids in a poor house. Guess where?”

“Whitechapel,” Draco said.

“Yep,” Theo smirked, “The second full moon was on the 6th of September, just before the final vampire attack and on that moon, another werewolf attack happened in Whitechapel.”

“Then it all stopped,” Daphne said, “Nobody knows why because it’s well known that nobody ever apprehended Jack the Ripper. The only reason for it to all stop is _us_.”

“A curse breaker broke the curse on the box?” Draco asked, but then he frowned, “No…because then this wouldn’t be happening now.”

“Exactly,” Daphne said, “Which got us thinking that an Auror might have cracked it and arrested the person who was responsible for unleashing the curse.”

“So we checked the filing room, and there are a lot of gaps obviously because Voldemort destroyed a lot of files when he took over the Ministry,” Theo explained.

Draco nodded.

Theo took a breath, “But he didn’t go near the ones that old because they didn’t matter to him, so why is the September 1888 charter of arrests missing?”

“Because someone doesn’t want us to find out who unleashed that curse back then,” Draco answered.

“Correct,” Daphne said.

“Go catch our bad guy,” Theo said, handing over the file.

Draco grinned, “Theo, I could kiss you.”

“Not in front of me, please,” Daphne joked.

Draco turned to her and said, “Stick around – I’m calling a briefing in the Homicide Office at noon after Harry’s has finished his appraisals. We’re catching this guy before he can hurt anyone else.”

Without waiting for an answer, Draco left the room.

Daphne shrugged and sat down next to Theo.

“Guess I’m hanging out here for a couple of hours then. Do you need some help with those one-shot wand prototypes?”

“D’you know what? I’d love an extra set of hands,” Theo chirped, pulling the prototype out of a drawer, “I can’t believe you said _our_ mother, by the way.”

“Oh don’t you start,” Daphne said, nudging him in the ribs.

“Always knew the Blacks liked a bit of incest, but the Greengrass’s too, huh?”

“You’re one word away from a bat-bogey hex,” Daphne said, pointing the finger at him.

Theo grinned, “Sorry,” he said without meaning it in the slightest.

Daphne rolled her eyes in response.

“Here’s the problem – you’re trying to make it look too nice. It needs to be thicker then you won’t have the same issue with ‘fitting’ the spell inside of it-”

“From incest to make my wand thicker? Daphne, I’m your _cousin_!”

“I swear I’ll curse you.”

* * *

Harry heard about the team meeting that had been called for noon after he finished doing Graham Pritchard’s appraisal. He tried his best not to rush through Lucas Ripley’s review, and he finished at 5 to 12. Harry stuck his head into John’s office to let him know that he’d be sticking around for a bit. John understood and asked him to come in for a chat before he headed home – Harry figured it was probably about Neville.

As such, when he stepped into the Homicide Office, he realised that everyone was waiting for him.

“Hey, babe,” Daphne said with a smile.

Harry smiled back, “If you’re here, that means we’re getting somewhere with the curse.”

“Oh yeah,” Theo said, “We broke the case wide open – Nott cousin, dream-team right here.”

Daphne snorted, “Firstly, don’t ever call me a Nott – we’re related through our Crouch mothers. Secondly, I broke the case wide open; you just helped.”

Harry chuckled, “Right you two, enough bickering. Spit it out, what did you find?”

Draco flipped the murder board overdramatically.

“This happened 117 years ago. We suspect that Jack the Ripper was actually five vampires and that each attack was made by a tame vampire who turned ripper. During the time of the attacks, there were two full moons, and on those moons, three werewolf attacks. All of these attacks occurred in the Whitechapel area of London.”

Harry nodded, “And our current attacks?”

Draco pointed to the other side of the board.

“All in the Poplar region of London. Look at the radius compared with the Whitechapel attacks.”

“Almost identical,” Harry said with a nod, “The same curse then?”

Daphne nodded, “Undoubtedly. The attacks just stopped in 1888, but nobody destroyed the cursed item because if they had, this wouldn’t be happening now. So I had Theo check the arrest records, but they were missing.”

“A lot are because of Voldemort-” Harry began to say.

Theo shook his head, “No, Harry. The September 1888 arrest charter is missing but everything else from that year is intact.”

Harry frowned, “Who has access to that?”

“Anyone who works in the DMLE,” Draco replied, “A temp who worked a summer here could get into the filing room and remove them.”

“So that doesn’t help us much,” Harry said, a frown forming on his face.

“Do you have a hunch?” Daphne asked, recognising the look on his face.

Harry shook his head, “Not a very well-formulated one.”

“That voice in the back of your head is usually right, Harry,” Daphne said, her eyes meeting his, “It was when it told you that Draco was a Death Eater.”

“It wasn’t when it told me that Voldemort had captured Sirius,” Harry said darkly, “So I can’t rely on it. We need solid evidence; we need to link someone alive now to whoever had that box back then.”

“I thought we should start with the Aurors of the day,” Theo suggested, “Daphne and I can pull out their files and check for any links to current DMLE officials.”

Harry nodded, “Check the Muggle detectives who worked the case too – you never know when magic might appear in a family.”

“Good call,” Draco said with a nod.

“But beyond that, there’s not much we can do, is there?” Jason asked.

Harry shook his head, “Theo, how close is the map to being finished?”

“A good week at least, maybe two,” Theo admitted.

Harry cursed, “Damn, we could have used it to keep an eye on the Poplar region to see who was coming and going.”

“I doubt that would have helped much,” Owen admitted, “Poplar is a pretty big area of London, and it’s heavily populated too.”

“True,” Harry conceded, “Can we pinpoint a central point? Terry, you’re the big Arithmancy nerd here, aren’t you?”

“Uh, after Theo, yeah I suppose so,” Terry answered.

“Theo’s got his hands full as it is,” Harry admitted, “But you can try and pinpoint a central point based on where the attacks happened, can’t you? Use trigonometry to try and find out where this box might be?”

Daphne smirked at him, “Trigonometry? A big word from the guy who never studied Arithmancy.”

“Hermione gave me a crash course,” Harry said with a grin, “I know you could have done too, but I wouldn’t have been able to concentrate.”

Daphne chuckled, “Listen, I know you’ll fight me on this one, but I need to go along on this one when you find the box.”

“Nah, I’m not going to fight you,” Harry said, “I trust you, I’m not gonna lie, I’d rather you had Bill with you as a back-up, but maybe that’s just because I’m so used to working in a pair.”

“I’ll have back-up, don’t worry,” Daphne said with a smirk, “I’ll be able to break the coding on the curse by myself, but I won’t be able to break the actual curse – I’m not magically powerful enough so I’ll need to borrow a little of your power.”

Harry smiled slightly, “You want to nick some of my magic, basically?”

“Yes, I do,” Daphne retorted, “And I think it’s only fair, don’t you? I am the one who had to push out two children for you. I think you can handle giving me a little bit of a magic boost to break this curse. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime curse, Harry. It’s like breaking the curse on Pandora’s box; there’s no way I’m letting Bill steal this one and get all of the glory.”

“I do love it when you get all ambitious,” Harry grinned.

“That’s enough, you two,” Draco cut in with an amused look, “Save the foreplay for the bedroom.”

“Jeez Draco, protective big brother much?” Theo teased.

“I swear to Merlin; I am going to punch you before the day is through, Theo,” Draco said, shooting his best friend a glare.

“Right – Theo, go back to your cupboard. As funny as it is to see a bit of Malfoy-baiting, we all need to get some work done,” Harry ordered.

“Malfoy-baiting?” Owen snorted, “You realise that sounds like-”

“Yeah Owen, that’s the point,” Harry said with an amused smile.

“Theo – get on those records. Daph, are you okay to help him?”

Daphne nodded, “I’ll have to leave to pick Teddy up from school, but until then, I’m free to help. Narcissa is with the kids.”

“Don’t you mean your mum?” Theo asked with a grin.

Harry frowned, “Huh?”

“She called Narcissa her mother earlier,” Theo teased.

“No, I didn’t,” Daphne snapped.

“You almost did,” Draco smirked.

“But I didn’t,” Daphne reminded him, “The next person to tell me what I almost said is getting hexed, and you would all do well to remember who my mother actually is.”

Harry’s frown deepened, “A psychotic bitch whose serving time in Azkaban for attempted murder?”

“Exactly,” Daphne said, smirking wickedly at Draco and Theo, “Do remember that boys,” she said, flicking her hair over her shoulder and stalking towards the door with her head held high.

The door slammed behind her, and Harry shot Theo an amused look.

“I think you pissed her off Theo and you’re the one who has to spend the rest of the afternoon with her, so good luck with that.”

He shoved Theo out of the door and added.

“And Draco – it doesn’t matter that she was your first shag; you think of her as a sister.”

“No, I don’t,” Draco argued.

“Yes, you do,” Harry said, “You were the only one who didn’t look at her arse when she stormed out of the door just then – Ben even looked, and he’s into blokes.”

Ben shrugged, “I can still appreciate a fine thing when I see it.”

Harry whacked the Junior Auror over the head with his case file in response.

* * *

By 5 pm that day they hadn’t gotten much further in their search. Terry had been able to triangulate a rough area from the attacks, but it was too wide to search door to door, which meant that it was a dead end. Theo and Daphne couldn’t find any apparent link with the case files and had to wait for the Muggle files to be released to them.

So when he stepped into John’s office that evening, Harry felt deflated.

“That bad?” John asked.

Harry nodded, “Three attacks and we’ve got nothing. We know it happened 117 years ago in Whitechapel, and it’s happening again now in the neighbouring district of Poplar, but we can’t link anyone from then to the attacks now.”

“117 years is a long time,” John said with a sigh, “Especially considering the two wars we’ve had in-between now and then in our world – let alone the wars that have racked the muggle world since.”

Harry nodded, “We need a breakthrough and honestly, Shep…I don’t know how we’re going to get one.”

“You will,” John said firmly, “You always do.”

Harry sighed and leant back in his chair.

“Yeah. Anyway, you wanted to see me?”

“I did,” John agreed, “For a couple of reasons, but the first one concerns Neville.”

“Did he agree to any of your ideas?” Harry asked, hopefully.

“He did,” John said with a smile, “He’s going to be our research guy.”

Harry frowned, “Isn’t that Theo?”

John shook his head, “Theo’s job is innovation – bringing the department into the 21st century. Neville is going to set himself up an office in the filing room, and he is going to sort the mess of files because if I’m honest, they haven’t been sorted properly since the second war.”

Harry nodded, “Neville likes to research.”

“It will cut our workload too,” John admitted, “For example, you had to get Theo on the case because you didn’t have time to pursue it and research when this could have happened in the past. When Neville starts his new job, you could take that information to Neville. If you have a record you need pulled, you go to the filing room, and Neville will pull it for you.”

“He’s a glorified librarian?”

“Well…yeah,” John admitted, “Just don’t tell him that.”

Harry grinned, “I’m buying him horn-rimmed glasses.”

John snorted, “He’ll kick your arse.”

“Nah he won’t, it’s Neville,” Harry retorted, “He loves me too much.”

John chuckled, “Listen, the other thing we need to talk about isn’t as nice; I’m afraid.”

“Okay,” Harry said, surveying his boss warily, “What is it?”

“Rob,” John admitted, “We need to talk about what this case means for him.”

“Because magical creatures are going daft?” Harry asked in disbelief, “I’ve just told you that it’s all linked to Poplar and Rob lives in Belgravia, it’s nowhere near Poplar.”

“I know that, but the press doesn’t, and they are obsessed with this case,” John said honestly, “All it takes is for them to latch onto the fact that we have a werewolf Auror and all of a sudden, the whole department gets bad press.”

“So what?” Harry asked in disbelief, “If that happens we just defend Rob. He’ll have an alibi for the nights of the attacks.”

“His wife is his alibi, Harry,” John said, “You and I are both Aurors – we both know how that looks.”

“You can’t seriously be thinking of suspending him just to save face,” Harry said.

“I don’t know what choice we have,” John said honestly, “He’s my best friend, trust me – it’s the last thing I want to do, but as Head Auror, I think it’s what I need to do.”

Harry shook his head, “You’re being ridiculous, Shep. If these attacks were happening nation-wide, I’d agree with you, but they aren’t, and Rob is as tame as they come. He takes his wolfsbane, and he whines in one of our sheds or summerhouses all night long.”

John sighed and nodded.

“Alright, but let’s hope there are no more attacks on Wednesday night, eh?”

Harry nodded, “Yeah, I want to say we’ll have cracked the case and caught the guy by then but to be honest, I don’t know if that’s possible.”

“You’re doing all that you can,” John said honestly, “Just come in here tomorrow, get your reviews done and please, for the love of Godric, get your arse to Caroline’s office because she’s furious that you missed your meeting today.”

Harry grimaced, “It’s going to take more than pumpkin spiced coffee to get back in her good graces, isn’t it?”

“Oh yeah – you’re going to have to go the whole hog,” John smirked.

“Pumpkin pie?” Harry guessed.

“Home-made,” John grinned.

“I’ll get Lilly on it tonight, Daphne can’t bake to save herself,” Harry said with a snort as he got to his feet and pulled on his winter cloak.

John chuckled, “Try and keep your spirits up, Harry.”

“I will,” Harry promised, “Night, Shep.”

John raised his hand to gesture goodbye, and Harry wasted no time in getting out of the office so he could go home to his family.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	53. Sometimes We're Hurt and it Cuts Deep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Black-Notts start their day with a family argument, John does something reckless, and Harry has to deal with the consequences of that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:  
> Bleed Red by Ronnie Dunn.

Hermione and Sadie were the early risers in the Black-Nott family. Draco was often not far behind them, and most mornings, Theo would fly into the kitchen, kiss his kids and Sadie, grab a slice of toast, shout a general “Love you” to the room and dash out of the door. More often than not, Draco was usually at work by that point, having been awake for at least an hour already.

Up until that point in the morning ritual – it was relaxing.

“I’ve got a sore stomach, Mum,” Almina complained while Sadie sipped her morning cup of tea.

Sadie looked up, “Oh darling, you should have said, and I wouldn’t have made you get out of bed.”

Almina shrugged, and Charlus dobbed his sister in.

“She’s lying. She doesn’t want to go because it’s sports day.”

Hermione frowned, “But you’re great at sports, honey.”

“No, I’m not,” Almina said quietly, “I’m only good at Quidditch. I’m rubbish at everything else.”

“You are not rubbish at everything else,” Sadie said firmly, “Hermione is right, you’re great at Quidditch. The Puddlemere Mini’s are lucky to have you.”

Almina sighed and moved her porridge around her bowl.

Draco, who had been watching the exchange, knelt in front of the little girl, “Mina – you are great at the things that matter. This muggle school that you go to, it’s just to teach you how muggles live. We want you to understand our world and their world because that’s the only way the next generation of witches just like you are going to bring our society into this century. It doesn’t matter that you’re bad at hockey or lacrosse because you’re never going to need that in life.”

“I’m not?” Almina asked.

Draco shook his head, “No, baby. You’re great at Quidditch, and one day you might be the next Gwenog Jones so who cares if you can’t play hockey? You are Almina Nott – the daughter of an extraordinarily brave Auror and a brilliant writer. You can be anything you want to be, and when you’re ruling the world, those girls who are better than you at hockey won’t matter anymore.”

Almina smiled broadly, “Thanks, Uncle Draco! You’re the best!”

Draco stood up, feeling rather proud of himself – until he saw the looks he was getting from Sadie and Hermione.

“What?” He asked warily as Almina hurried towards the kitchen door. When she got there, Theo dragged himself in sleepily.

“Daddy – I’m going to rule the world when I’m an Auror like you and Uncle Draco!” Almina said eagerly, “Then I’m going to put the stupid hockey girls in jail!”

Theo rubbed his eyes and blinked.

“Uh…okay honey. Aim for the stars. Ambition is a good thing.”

Sadie crossed her arms and set her jaw.

“I am going to kill you two!”

Theo looked at Draco.

“ _Us_ two?”

“I think so,” Draco replied.

“Should I ask why?” Theo questioned, throwing himself down into a seat next to Charlus and ruffling his son's hair.

“Because of the speech Draco just gave Almina when she said she didn’t want to go to school today because she’s no good at hockey and lacrosse,” Sadie said furiously.

“So what? It doesn’t matter, does it? She’s not a muggle, she’ll never have to play those dumb sports again,” Theo shrugged, “She’s great at Quidditch, and she’s magically smart. I don’t get why the Muggle stuff matters.”

Sadie threw her hands up in the air.

“Do you want to take over?” she asked Hermione.

Hermione nodded and stepped forward.

“You don’t get why the Muggle stuff matters? Maybe because we don’t want another generation of wizards like your fathers. When I take my seat on the Wizengamot, I am going to push forward the education of wizarding children in muggle schools because it’s the only way to see that they are just like us.”

“Except less smart,” Theo whispered.

“Less smart?” Hermione asked furiously, “Theodore – the wizarding world doesn’t widely have electricity, we still live in the bloody dark ages! Yes, magic is great, but it hasn’t helped us invent a faster way to get to Hogwarts, has it? That train takes eight hours – a muggle train could do it in five!”

“You insulted Muggles, Theo – bad move,” Draco whispered.

“Hey, don’t you start!” Hermione snapped, “You just gave Almina a speech any pureblood father would have been proud of!”

“I am a pureblood father,” Draco reminded him.

“To half-blood children,” Hermione said firmly, “Just remember that, won’t you? If our world stays the same as it is right now, Almina and Charlus will be treated better at school. They will have better job prospects than our children will, and that will have nothing to do with their upbringing. Look at us; we’re all raising all four of them the same way. So why would Almina get a job that Elladora deserved more? Because Elladora’s mother is a Muggle-born, that’s why.”

Hermione took a breath and glared at him.

“Is that the world you want for them? A world where idiots like you call them things like you called me at school?”

Draco’s eyes darkened.

“That’s an incredibly low blow, Hermione,” he said, rising to his feet and walking around the table, “I have spent years apologising to you for the way I treated you back then. I truly thought after five years of marriage and two children; you would believe that I meant it by now.”

“I do,” Hermione said honestly, “But it still happened, and I won’t let it happen again. It’s why I want to be on the Wizengamot, why I’m spending every spare minute that I have campaigning for that seat. Our children need to grow up in a better world than the one we grew up in.”

Charlus clapped his hands, and Theo smiled warmly.

“Well, you’ve got three voters right here, princess.”

Draco smiled too, “What he said – it’s also our way of saying sorry without damaging our pride.”

Hermione sighed but let a small smile slip onto her face.

“I’m used to that after all of these years, but next time Mina doesn’t want to go to school because of bullies – don’t tell her that she’s a witch who will rule the world one day.”

Draco cringed slightly, “Yeah – I might not have chosen the best words.”

Theo snorted, “Reckon we should head into work early today?”

Draco nodded, “After yesterday’s briefing that wouldn’t be the worst idea. See you tonight, love,” he added, kissing Hermione lightly.

Theo ruffled Charlus’s hair, “Have a good day at school, kiddo.”

“Can I rule the world one day too?” Charlus asked curiously.

“Course you can,” Theo replied.

“Does that mean I don’t need to go to school?” Charlus chanced.

Sadie chuckled, “No chance – go get your shoes on.”

“Two Slytherins right here,” Theo said with a grin.

Sadie shook her head, “Almina is a real cross between Slytherin and Ravenclaw.”

“True,” Theo agreed, he stood in the doorway of the kitchen and yelled, “Bye Mina, love you!”

A muffled, “Love you too, Dad!” drifted down the corridor.

Draco kissed Caspian on the head and lifted Ella out of her playpen for a hug.

“Love you, baby, be good for Mum,” he said, setting his daughter back down and throwing floo powder into the fireplace.

“Good luck with the big case,” Hermione said.

Sadie kissed Theo goodbye and nodded.

“Don’t you dare go out in the field to catch the guy though.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Theo promised, and Sadie knew that he genuinely meant that.

The two men disappeared through the flames and reappeared in the atrium of the Ministry. They joined a cue to get their wands checked, and Theo said, “She is going to rule the world someday, to be fair.”

“Of course she is, she’s your daughter,” Draco said with an amused smile, “She’s got your nerve and ingenuity and Sadie’s grace and beauty. She is going to take the world by storm.”

“Just you wait till Ella is all grown up,” Theo said with a smile, “She’s the best of you and Hermione, and that is going to make one hell of a human being.”

Draco chuckled at that, “She’s going to do great things, I’m sure. Greater than even her mother.”

“Ah, Hermione might take the world by storm with liberal reforms, but she’s not the one whose going to change the world,” Theo said knowingly, “You are.”

Draco smiled, “Thanks for the show of confidence, Theo. If I’m honest, I need it right now – this case…it’s bothering me. I feel like the answer is right there, but I can’t quite reach it. Like I can see it in the distance, but there’s a cliff and no bridge.”

Theo handed his wand over to the security wizard and shot Draco an amused grin.

“Are you a wizard or not? Just _make the bridge_.”

Theo’s words rang in his head as Draco handed his wand over to be checked in. He had said it, partly in jest, but Theo was right. The answer wasn’t going to land in their laps – they would need to find their way to it.

* * *

“Liz – I need to go in early today.”

Elizabeth looked up, “John, you haven’t even had breakfast.”

“I’ll have coffee at work,” John said, pulling his thick winter cloak on.

Elizabeth crossed her arms over her chest.

“What’s happened?”

John threw her the morning copy of the prophet where the big headline blared.

_“WEREWOLF KILLS MUGGLE GIRL DAY BEFORE FULL MOON.”_

Elizabeth’s eyes widened, “Where did this happen?”

“Poplar, same as all of the vampire attacks,” John said as he grabbed his wand, “If you read on, the article links all of the attacks and speculates that magical creatures everywhere are losing control.”

“Are you going to go public about the curse?” Elizabeth asked him.

“I don’t want to,” John answered honestly, “Not until we catch the guy. I don’t want to tip him off, but I need to take further action now. I was holding off because, in comparison with the 1888 attacks, things have been happening slower but now…”

Elizabeth frowned, “Of course – that makes sense. In 1888 there was no Society for the Tolerance of Vampires; they didn’t have familiars to help them keep the hunger at bay. Werewolves didn’t have wolfsbane; they just had to chain themselves up with silver and hope that they didn’t break free.”

“What are you saying?” John asked her, hovering by the back door.

“When that curse was unleashed in 1888 every vampire that had been struggling to maintain control, lost it,” Elizabeth said, “Hence the five attacks attributed to Jack the Ripper and the other six victims that they couldn’t tie directly to him. It would explain the multiple werewolf attacks on the full moon too, but now vampires don’t struggle to maintain control so much because they have familiars. The ones who did lose control turned on their familiars, and I don’t think they did that maliciously, I think they overfed hence why the girls are just dead – not ripped apart.”

John nodded thoughtfully.

“Werewolves can control themselves on the full moon thanks to wolfsbane, but this attack happened the day before. That is when a werewolf is at their most hormonal and changeable,” Elizabeth pointed out.

John watched her with interest. Elizabeth frowned and looked back down at the article.

“The last attack happened on the full moon, and we don’t know the situation there. It could have been a new wolf or someone who missed even one dose of wolfsbane. That would have been enough to unbalance the scales.”

“What you’re saying is all of the campaigning for the rights of werewolves and vampires has stopped this from becoming a massacre like it did the last time,” John said.

“Exactly and if that has left your perp feeling frustrated then maybe they will start taking things into their own hands,” Elizabeth said anxiously.

John sighed, “I’m going to go to CPS before I head into the office. Rob can’t be around at the moment with all of this bad press.”

“You’re suspending him?” Elizabeth asked in disbelief.

“Liz, please spare me the morality speech – I’ve already had it from Harry,” John said irritably, “This is my job now, and this is my responsibility. Jack would have done the same thing, and he would have done it sooner than I have.”

“Jack hated Rob,” Elizabeth pointed out, “He’s your best friend. If you do this, you could be losing that all over again.”

“It’s a risk I have to take,” John said, and without another word, he stepped out into the cold.

* * *

When Rob walked into CPS to find his best friend and boss sitting on his desk drinking coffee, he narrowed his eyes.

“Who died?”

“Nobody,” John replied, “Well, a muggle girl technically.”

Rob frowned, “What?”

“Didn’t you see the paper this morning?” John asked.

Rob shook his head, “Nah, I was trying to convince Nat to eat her cereal, but she threw it at Nick instead. Jen couldn’t wait to leave for work; those two are like cat and dog right now.”

John smiled a little, “Yeah, I remember when Jack and Gray were like that.”

“You missing the chaos now they’re both at Hogwarts?” Rob guessed, sitting down behind his desk.

“I kind of am, yeah,” John said with a half-hearted smile, “Anyway, the newspaper this morning. A werewolf killed a girl in Poplar early this morning – he was in human form, the day before the full moon.”

Rob frowned.

“It was violent, Rob,” John continued, “He raped her and when they did find her body…they described it as mutilated, and this sick bastard was in human form.”

“Tied into the vampire cases then, isn’t it?” Rob asked, his eyes surveying John, “If it happened in Poplar.”

“We suspect so, yeah,” John said with a nod, “But I’m sure you can understand that in light of this – you need to take some time off after the full moon.”

Rob narrowed his eyes at him.

“Are you politely nudging that I take a holiday or are you suspending me?”

“I’m suspending you, on full pay,” John admitted, “For two weeks, just until the hype around all of this dies down.”

Rob shook his head in disbelief.

“I can’t believe you. I mean I suppose I should have seen this coming, shouldn’t I? You threw me under the bus once and then stole my girl and yeah, I’m over that now, but I suppose I should have expected you to do the same thing again!”

“I’m not throwing you under the bus, I’m suspending you so you don’t get thrown to the wolves who are the press in this case,” John explained.

“Bad terminology though, Shep,” Rob said bitterly, “You can’t throw me to the wolves, I’m one of them.”

John sighed, “Don’t make this all about you, Rob. It’s for the department, I’m the Head Auror now, and my job is to protect the department, that includes its image. You know if Jack were still here, he’d have suspended you as soon as the first werewolf attack was made public.”

“If Jack were still here, I wouldn’t be an Auror anymore,” Rob corrected him, “He’d have found a loophole and let me go the minute that werewolf bit me, but I thought you were different. I thought you cared about me, John, regardless of whether or not I was a half-breed.”

“I do care about you-” John began to say.

Rob shook his head, “No, you don’t because if you cared about me, you wouldn’t have just suspended me 24 hours before the full moon,” he growled, his teeth bared.

John took a step back.

“And if you trusted me, you wouldn’t have done that,” Rob added angrily, “So here,” he slammed his badge down on the table, “I don’t want to work for you anymore, and you don’t want a werewolf on the payroll – too bad for PR. It looks like this solution makes everyone happy.”

“Rob-”

“I quit, Sheppard,” Rob said, grabbing his bag and storming out of the CPS building.

John groaned and hit his head off of the concrete wall opposite the desk.

“Fuck,” he muttered as he kicked over a wooden stool, “Fuck!”

“Not the start to the morning that you were hoping for, honey?”

John jumped and spun around. Elizabeth was standing by the fireplace with her arms crossed over her chest.

He shook his head, “Keep your I told you so to yourself – until further notice, you’re in charge of CPS.”

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at him.

“You might want to start treating me with a little more respect, or there won’t be anyone to run CPS,” she said sharply, “Now run along – ruin someone’s else day.”

John shot her a glare and stalked out of the building.

* * *

Harry had no idea about what had happened between John and Rob that morning. All he knew was that John had a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign up on his office when Harry came in, so he left the Head Auror to his own devices. He had read about the werewolf attack in the papers, so he ducked into Homicide for a brief chat and once he was satisfied that they knew what they were doing – he decided to get on with his appraisals.

“Right then Jace, you’re up,” Harry said, “Let’s get this over and done with so I can get you back on the case – I know Draco doesn’t need to be a man down today.”

“I don’t, and you’re nicking two of my team members for appraisals,” Draco said irritably.

“I’ll be quick with Jace, he’s a seasoned Auror,” Harry said honestly, “But Ben, yours might take a bit longer.”

“Cause I’m a newbie?” Ben guessed.

“Yep,” Harry admitted, “You ready, Jason?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Jason replied.

Harry led the Auror into his office, and they sat down with coffee.

“The good news is that your appraisal flags no concerns whatsoever. Well, apart from the obvious one – you haven’t been promoted yet.”

Jason raised an eyebrow, “Yeah?”

“Yeah, you’re doing great in Homicide, Jason,” Harry said honestly, “Frankly for an Auror as good as you are, you’ve risen through the ranks pretty slowly, and if I’m honest, I think that’s because of your blood status.”

“Because I’m a Muggle-born?” Jason asked.

Harry nodded, “Now, I’m not saying that’s right because it sure as hell isn’t, but you have been great wherever you were. Back in the second war, you were on protection duty, and I mean you got assigned to me, which is saying something because protecting me is no easy feat.”

Jason snorted, “You’re telling me.”

Harry grinned, “You trained under Mad-Eye and from reading his reports about you, he liked you as much as he liked Nymphadora Tonks. You’re as good an Auror as she was, Jace and after the war when they shook the departments up, you did great in Fraud. Frankly, you were wasted in CPS.”

Jason shrugged, “Ah, well, you know why I went there.”

“You had a bit of a blip?” Harry asked, “I don’t know the details – it’s in your medical file, so it’s between yourself and Caroline. I am assuming that she was the person you saw?”

“She was,” Jason said, “And it’s in the past now so I can talk about it comfortably. Two years ago, I went to my sisters flat and found her passed out. I took her to the hospital where they saved her life, but she had overdosed, and I didn’t even know that she was struggling, that she was on drugs.”

“She’s a muggle?” Harry asked.

Jason nodded, “She was doing great as far as I knew. She was in drama school, she was going to be an actress, but then one girl in her class said she was too fat, so she started taking pills to control her weight and then she started smoking to make her less hungry. It all led to this downward spiral, and before she knew it, she was in an abusive relationship with an older man who had gotten her hooked on drugs.”

Jason swallowed, “I lost it, Harry. I took her away, moved her in with me and I swear to Godric, I damn near killed the bastard who did it to her. Jack made me take some leave, told me I had to get my head straight, and when I came back, I did my meetings with Caroline. Jack asked me what I wanted to do if I felt comfortable in the job or if I needed a change. I asked to step down to CPS so that I could make a difference in the Closes, stop bastards like that you know?”

Harry nodded, “Trust me, Jace – I get it. I was raised by abusive relatives too, and that leaves a mark on you.”

“You know about my parents?” Jason asked in surprise.

“It’s in your file that they were alcoholics and drug abusers,” Harry said honestly, “But I worked out the abused part myself. Rob said it to me, you know? When I started in the department, I started in CPS and Rob said that the best people to work that job are the kids who were abused themselves because when you _were_ that kid, it’s a damn sight easier to see when a child is suffering.”

Jason nodded, “Yeah…”

“We pulled you out of CPS because you’re too good for it,” Harry said honestly, “I won’t lie, I can see you leading one of the top three departments when you get promoted. You’re not going to end up stuck with a department like Missing Persons for your whole career. You’re going to do well if you keep applying yourself.”

Jason smiled slightly, “Thanks, Harry. It’s not often I admit that I lack confidence, but with some of the other Aurors in this department, it’s nice to know that I’m doing a good job.”

Harry leant back in his chair and asked.

“Do you have a personal goal for the future, Jace?”

“I want to settle down,” Jason said honestly, “Cheesy as it sounds, I just want stability. I’m 31, Harry and I’ve not got a wife, I’ve not got any kids. I go home to my kid sister and my dog, you know?”

Harry smiled, “Can’t rush these things, Jace. You find them when you find them, but I get it. What are your future aspirations regarding work?”

“To make Senior Auror, obviously,” Jason said, “And I’d quite like to work Vice when I do.”

“Good goal,” Harry said, leaning back in his chair, “I do need to ask you about something else.”

“Shoot,” Jason said.

“Your relationship with Lux Montgomery – did it last long?” Harry asked.

“About six months,” Jason answered, “We split up after everything that happened with Rob. I just disagreed with the way she spoke to a guy who had been nothing but good to us, you know?”

Harry nodded, “Are you still on good terms with her?”

“Honestly, mate – I’ve not spoken to her since we split,” Jason said, “Why do you ask?”

“Just a feeling,” Harry admitted, “It’s probably nothing. Look, I won’t keep you any longer because I know Draco wants you back but would you mind sending Ben in now?”

“Sure,” Jason said with a nod, “And thanks for the chat, Harry.”

“Anytime,” Harry said honestly “It’s what I’m here for.”

Jason left, and less than five minutes later, Ben walked into the office.

Harry smiled at him.

“Take a seat, Ben,” he said politely.

Ben did so and looked up at Harry.

“What’s the damage then, boss?”

Harry laughed, “None. You’re doing great. Draco gave you a glowing review, of course – he thinks the sun shines out of your arse.”

Ben smiled, “I don’t get it, you know? His faith in me.”

“I do,” Harry said honestly, “Because I think he sees what I see when he looks at you. We see what Draco could have been if he’d had the strength to disobey his father like you did. But Draco never had that, not until it was almost too late.”

Ben didn’t say anything to that; he just nodded thoughtfully.

“You’ve got a lot of potential, Ben,” Harry told the young man, “You remind me of Draco when he was fresh out of training and look at him now – he’s leading Homicide, on track to be the next Assistant Head and that’s not because he comes from a pureblood family. It’s because he shoved aside the prejudices relating to that family and did what he felt was right – made a difference in the world.”

“That’s all I want to do,” Ben said, “Make a difference, make this world safer for the people who come after us than it was for the people before us.”

“You’re here for the right reasons, and it shows,” Harry said honestly, “It’s why I like you, it’s why Draco has faith in you. If you keep your head screwed on, you’ll go far.”

“Thank you,” Ben said, smiling broadly at Harry, “That means a great deal coming from Aurors as successful as you and Draco.”

Harry leant back in his chair.

“You seem to be settling in okay with Homicide. Do you feel comfortable?”

“Completely,” Ben answered, “I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure about Owen and me being partners. All through Auror training, it was me and Euan versus Owen and Stewart, you know? Then we get here, and boom – Euan goes to Vice with Stewart.”

Harry nodded.

“And I didn’t know how that would go down,” Ben said honestly, “Me and Euan were a good team, we had that whole Slytherin-Gryffindor, good cop, bad cop thing going on.”

“You also had that whole sexual tension, everyone thought you were cheating on your boyfriend with him thing going on,” Harry pointed out.

Ben looked up in surprise.

“How did you know about that?”

“I’ve got friends at the training centre, a lot of them actually,” Harry said, “It was a factor in our decision to split you two up, I’ll be honest. Another factor was that Euan Abercrombie is a bit of a douchebag and I didn’t want him working Homicide.”

“Yeah, he’s a hothead, and that can get him in trouble,” Ben agreed, “But he’s a good friend, and I won’t lie, there was a bit of that tension there. Everyone talked about it all of the time, but unlike Dan – I’ve never cheated. I liked Euan, that’s true, but I would never have done to Dan what he did to me.”

Harry nodded, “I didn’t think you were the type. Slytherins can be very loyal to the people they love; it just takes a bit of time to gain their loyalty. I’ll be honest when I paired you and Owen up; I wasn’t sure if it would work. Slytherins traditionally work best with Ravenclaws – the brains and the ambition combined, it just works. They also work well with Gryffindors, as you can see with my partnership with Draco.”

Ben nodded.

“But Slytherin-Hufflepuff partnerships can be the best when they work out,” Harry said honestly, “And you and Owen are well on your way to proving that. You have the ambition, the sneaky side – you’ll do what needs to be done when you have to, but Owen will stop you from going too far with his trusty Hufflepuff moral compass.”

Ben chuckled at that.

“And when Owen has his head in the clouds, you’ll bring him back to reality,” Harry said, “You’ll remind him that sometimes you have to break the rules a little for the greater good and that’s what being Auror partners is about. You help each other, you push each other, but ultimately you have each other's backs, and you and Owen do. I can see that already. He said he’s only loyal to those who have earned his loyalty. Still, the minute you found yourself in a tough spot, Owen gave you the couch his tiny little bedsit. He’s not got much, but he’s willing to share what he does have with you and that, Ben, is the beginning of a great partnership.”

Ben grinned, “He’s pretty awesome for a Hufflepuff.”

“And you’re pretty awesome for a Smith,” Harry said, holding his hand out to the younger man, “Welcome to the team – you really are going to go far.”

Ben shook his hand and thanked him; then he left the office on cloud number nine.

Harry had a brief coffee break and contemplated knocking on the door of John’s office but the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign was still up, and the last thing he wanted was to walk into an important meeting and piss John off. So he cracked on with the final two reviews of the day – those of Robert Sullivan (co-head of Arson) and finally, that of Romilda Vane.

Romilda flirted with him profusely, Harry tried his best not to flirt back but as both Daphne and Lilly had informed him – accidental flirting was an issue of his. He made the review as short as sweet as possible, then headed over to the training centre for his meeting with Caroline.

Harry knew Lilly was working today, so he dropped a brown bag in front of her.

“Ginger biscuits and decaf pumpkin spiced coffee from the café along the road,” he said, kissing her on the cheek and hurrying into Caroline’s office.

“Which one is your husband, him or Neville?” Jennifer asked, raising an eyebrow at Lilly.

Lilly shrugged, “They both are – Neville’s my husband, Harry’s my work-husband.”

Jennifer chuckled, “Reckon he wants Caroline to sign him off today?”

“He just went into her office with a bag full of treats and her favourite coffee. Of course he wants her to sign him off,” Lilly said, shooting Jennifer an amused smile.

Caroline knew this too – she called Harry out on it the moment she looked into the brown bag that he had deposited on her desk.

“You didn’t have to do this, Harry. I was planning on signing you off today anyway.”

“Then just consider that as my goodbye and thank you for all of the fantastic therapy present,” Harry said, sitting down opposite her.

Caroline smiled, “Why are you so desperate to get back in the thick of things?”

“There are a few reasons,” Harry said honestly, “One being that paper-pushing is boring and I am so glad that I only have six appraisals to do then I’m done for another year.”

Caroline chuckled.

“The other is that there’s a cursed box around which is making magical creatures go haywire and I could do with being all in to help the guys with that,” Harry continued, “But the main one is that Draco’s ideas are getting ridiculous. He asked me if I would let him go undercover into a coven yesterday – come on Caroline, he needs me back.”

Caroline smiled in amusement.

“That _is_ a terrible idea.”

“I know, right?” Harry shot back, sipping his coffee.

“You seem much better, Harry,” Caroline said honestly, “So yes, I will sign this fundamental form,” she motioned to the form in front of her on the desk, “And let you get back to active duty, but we’re not done here yet. I would still like to see you every Monday morning until I am sure that you won’t relapse again.”

“Fine,” Harry said honestly, “I’m happy with that.”

“Good,” Caroline said. She sipped her coffee and put a big ‘X’ in the box marked ‘RETURN TO ACTIVE DUTY’ then she signed underneath it and held the form out to him.

“Go catch your bad guy.”

Harry grinned, “Oh, Caroline I could kiss you, but Lilly would find out then my wife would find out and she’d kill me,” he joked as he opened the door, “You’re the best!”

“I know I am,” Caroline laughed as the door to her office swung shut.

“Got what you wanted then?” Lilly asked in amusement.

Harry waved the form in the air.

“Caroline’s officially my favourite Healer.”

“I officially delivered both of your children so you might want to take that back, Potter,” Lilly pointed out.

“Okay, she’s my favourite Healer who isn’t a Trauma Healer?” Harry returned.

“Hmm, that’ll do,” Lilly mused with a slight smile, “Don’t stay too late tonight – Neville’s cooking.”

“I won’t,” Harry promised as he headed towards the door.

“Don’t forget your iron supplement today and remember to go to your weird pregnancy yoga class this afternoon!” he called as he left.

Jennifer snorted, “Yep, he’s definitely your work-husband,”

“Told ya,” Lilly chuckled.

* * *

Harry didn’t stay at work late that night. He ducked his head into the Homicide Office to help with the second werewolf attack only to find that they didn’t need any help because plenty of DNA attached to the victim's body gave them a perp. They had already brought him in, and Draco was grilling him when Harry checked in. He caved and admitted his guilt very quickly, so before he left the department, Harry had a whispered chat with Draco outside the interrogation rooms.

“How long is he going down for?”

“Life,” Draco answered, “His defence is that he just snapped, but that’s not going to cut it. He violently raped and murdered his girlfriend.”

“She was his girlfriend?” Harry asked in disbelief.

Draco nodded, “She didn’t know he was a werewolf, obviously.”

“Not till it was too late anyway,” Harry sighed, “He doesn’t know what made him snap then?”

“He says he’d been struggling to control his urges in the week leading up to the full moon then he just lost it,” Draco shrugged, “And yeah, we can tie it to the Poplar attacks, but a cursed box isn’t going to save him time in Azkaban.”

“It could lessen his sentence though,” Harry whispered.

“It’s not going to make a difference,” Draco said honestly, “I saw him when he admitted his guilt, Harry. He won’t last a week in Azkaban, the minute he gets the chance he’ll kill himself.”

Harry cursed angrily.

“And it’s a full moon tomorrow, Draco.”

“I know,” Draco said darkly.

“We’ll have to get as many people as we can out on patrol in Poplar,” Harry said, “Any attacks, any screams – they rush to the scene.”

“You head on home,” Draco said, glancing up at the clock, “It’s nearly 3 pm, and you’re picking Ted up from school today, aren’t you?”

Harry nodded, “Yeah, but if you’re struggling, I can ask your mum-”

“We’re fine,” Draco said, placing his hand on Harry’s shoulder, “Go pick your kid up from school. I’ll talk to Shep, and we’ll call in as many of the MLE squad as we can to patrol Poplar tomorrow night.”

“Alright,” Harry conceded because he knew he had to start putting his family first if he genuinely wanted to get a better work-life balance, “But send me a Patronus if you need me, okay?”

“Course I will,” Draco promised, “Now go, or you’ll be late.”

Harry nodded and left the department without any further arguments.

* * *

Harry was exhausted that evening but not too tired for a brainstorm with Neville.

“Hey, when do you start your new job?”

“Monday,” Neville returned with a grin.

Harry grinned back.

“I can’t bloody wait.”

“Tough week?” Neville guessed, handing Harry a cup of coffee.

Harry nodded and perched on the edge of the kitchen table in Longbottom House.

“Yeah, that’s one way of putting it. I’ve got two more days of reviews to go, and then I’m done with the paper-pushing and as of tomorrow morning – I’m back on active duty.”

“Caroline cleared you then?”

Harry nodded, “Yeah, and I’m glad she did because this case with the magical creatures…it’s tough, Nev.”

“I can imagine,” Neville said honestly, “It’s linked up with the Jack the Ripper killings isn’t it?”

Harry frowned, “Yeah. How did you know that?”

“Daphne’s helping Theo out with it and Daphne and I are the stay-at-home-ish ones in our respective relationships,” Neville said with a shrug, “We get through at least three cups of coffee a day.”

Harry laughed at that, “Yeah, it’s linked with the Jack the Ripper killings, but Shep threw a spanner in the works when he pointed out that there are five murders that can definitely be tied to the ripper and another six that might have been him. We triangulated an area that we estimate the cursed box to be in, but if there are other victims out there, that isn’t going to work.”

“Well you know about all of the murders, don’t you?” Neville asked.

Harry nodded, “Yeah, but the problem is that when this curse was unleashed 117 years ago, the likes of vampires and werewolves had no rights. There was no wolfsbane, no familiars to keep vampires in check, so they all turned.”

“Ah,” Neville realised, “But this time, wolfsbane is keeping the werewolves at bay for the most part, and only a couple of vampires have over-indulged in their familiars.”

“Exactly,” Harry agreed, “But Shep thinks there are smaller hints. He’s got the overnight team looking into all of the domestic abuse calls in the last month in case any werewolves have been overly violent towards their other halves.”

“You could put someone in undercover to an S.T.V meeting,” Neville mused, “Vampires familiars have support meetings like alcoholics.”

“Do they?” Harry asked in surprise, “What do they say? Hi, I’m Jenny, and I’m in love with a vampire. I can never tell if he really wants me or if it’s just my blood. What do I do?”

Neville shook his head at Harry and grinned.

“You’re so gay.”

Harry snorted, “Seriously though? Vampires familiars have meetings?”

“Yep,” Neville said, sipping his coffee, “Every Thursday night at the STV building in…” he frowned and trailed off.

“Poplar?” Harry guessed.

Neville nodded.

“Okay firstly – how the hell do you know this?” Harry asked, “And secondly, whose my best bet to send in undercover?”

“Lilly treated one, a vampires familiar that is,” Neville explained, “She was injured in that dragon attack last year, and one of the things that Lilly flagged up when she treated her was anaemia.”

“Wow, a vampires familiar was anaemic,” Harry said dryly, “What a surprise.”

Neville shot him an amused look.

“You are so fucking sarcastic. Anyway, Lilly treated her and had her come in for a couple of blood transfusions, and you know Lilly; she’s morbidly curious about stuff like that, so they got talking about it.”

“And she found out that familiars have meetings,” Harry mused.

“They choose the lifestyle, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need support,” Neville said.

Harry nodded.

“And as for who I think you should send? Well, that’s a slightly more difficult thing. There’s not a stereotypical vampires familiar, they all have their own tastes like we do,” Neville continued, “Vampires don’t have much bias around sex apart from that they like it and have a lot of it.”

“Also found this out from Lilly or have you been secretly nipping into _Magical Desires_ in Knockturn?” Harry teased.

Neville looked over his coffee mug at him.

“Like I need porn with the things that our other halves do when they’re drunk.”

Harry grinned at that.

“Yeah, fair point. Anyway, we’ve gone off-topic. Vampires have a lot of sex with a lot of people, male and female, yes?”

Neville nodded, “Yes, so with regards to your undercover person – it could be a man or a woman. I would suggest you go with someone relatively pale because vampires familiars tend to suffer from anaemia.”

“So it should be Draco then?” Harry snorted.

“No, I don’t think it should be actually,” Neville mused, “Vampires like them young and attractive, that rules Draco out on both fronts.”

Harry barked out a laugh at that.

“I think you should send Ben in, if you’re comfortable enough with how he’s doing to risk that,” Neville said, “But you’re his boss, that’s your call.”

“It’s not just my call,” Harry admitted, “Although it is a good idea. I’ll discuss it with Draco tomorrow, but thanks for the chat – it’ll be nice to chat like this again in office hours soon.”

Neville smiled at that.

“Yeah, it will be,” he agreed.

* * *

Harry decided to walk home across the grounds that evening because although it was dark and cold – it was dry, which constituted a lovely evening for the Lake District. He stopped off via the secret greenhouse in the woods attached to the Longbottom property then carried on to the gates of his own home.

It was here that he met Rob.

Harry frowned when he saw his friend and mentor – his eyes were red and bloodshot, he looked terrible.

“Rob,” Harry said quietly, “You okay, mate?”

Rob shrugged, “Okay as I can be given everything.”

Harry assumed he meant the full moon tomorrow, so he nodded.

“Yeah – how do you feel about the full moon?”

“The same as everyone else I suppose,” Rob said darkly, “Like I’m going to go nuts and attack someone.”

“That’s only happening in Poplar, Rob,” Harry said, unlocking the gates to Potter Manor and stepping into the grounds. Rob followed him inside, and they walked towards the lake together, “Blacknot Castle is empty at the moment, we can chain you up there, and you’re about as far away from Poplar as humanly possible.”

Rob sighed, “Yeah, I suppose. I’m just…I don’t like to admit when I’m struggling, Harry. Comes from being an abused kid, doesn’t it? You’re just so used to getting on with things, and you tell yourself that you don’t need help from anyone even when help is exactly what you need.”

Harry watched Rob with concern.

“Yeah, I’ve been there. That’s how I felt when I was an alcoholic.”

Rob nodded and sat down on a bench by the lake.

Harry sat down next to him and added.

“But I’m here if you want to talk or vent, or offload anything.”

“I’m just struggling to stay on top of it all right now,” Rob admitted, “Natasha is a handful and Jen as much as she tries, she’s not the most maternal. Liz is more like a Mum to Nat than Jen is.”

Harry stayed quiet and let Rob talk.

“And Nick is just starting to question stuff,” Rob admitted, “He’s asking questions about his mother, and I don’t want to answer them because I don’t want him to know that he’s not mine.”

“He is yours, Rob,” Harry said simply, “Biology isn’t that important.”

“Try telling a kid that,” Rob muttered under his breath, “It’s different with you and Alastor.”

“How is it different?” Harry asked, “I found him on the night he was born – it’s no different.”

“Not that part,” Rob said with a shrug, “The squib thing – you know the big secret you won’t tell your missus? At least Jen and me, as unconventional as our relationship can be, we don’t keep shit from each other but you two? You’re always keeping stuff from her, Harry.”

Harry shook his head irritably, “Stop making this about me. This is about you and your fear. You’re terrified to tell Nick the truth.”

“Look just cause you spent the last two weeks having therapy because you tried to top yourself; it doesn’t mean you get to play psychiatrist for me, Harry,” Rob said irritably.

“Maybe you should think about going to therapy yourself,” Harry retorted, “Because abused kids become fucked up adults, Rob. Look at us for proof of that – you can’t repeat the mistakes your caregivers made with you. Tell Nick the truth, don’t spend your life lying to him.”

“Keep your nose out of my business with my kid, or I’ll shove mine into yours and tell your missus the big secret,” Rob threatened.

“Good luck with that,” Harry said coolly, “Because she knows. I told her, and we found a solution, I gave Alastor some of my magic, and with any luck, his magical core will heal now. But frankly, the fact you went there? The fact you threatened me with that? It says a lot about you as a person – ever heard of Peter Pettigrew?”

Rob’s eyes flashed angrily.

“So you have then?” Harry barked, “Yeah, I’m starting to think that’s the sort of Gryffindor you are.”

Rob lunged at him, and for one terrifying second, Harry thought he was going to bite him or claw at him but what happened was probably more painful. Rob punched him in the chest and sent him flying back a few feet into a tree.

“I hope you and Shep are nice and happy,” Rob growled, “You make a nice little team, don’t you? Backstabbers united? I suppose Lizzie is in on it too? Well, it’s done now, I’m not your problem anymore!”

Harry was gasping, desperately trying to get air into his lungs so he couldn’t respond to Rob.

The older man left, the gates of the Manor closing and sealing behind him. Harry got to his feet and dragged himself up to the front door, gasping and heaving as he did so. When he got inside, he tried to call out, but his shout for Daphne was feeble and hoarse.

Somehow, she heard him, and when she ran into the entrance hall, her eyes widened.

“What happened?”

“Ribs,” Harry choked, “Broken.”

Daphne cast a diagnostic cham and cursed.

“You have a collapsed lung, that’s why you can’t breathe,” she put her arm under him and dragged him into the library where she helped him onto the sofa.

She ran through the vanishing cabinet and shouted.

“Lilly, I need help! Harry’s hurt!”

Neville and Lilly must have been close by because they both appeared seconds later. Lilly stepped through the vanishing cabinet first and looked at the diagnostic charm Daphne had cast.

“What the hell happened to you?” she asked, firstly setting his ribs then summoning a potions cabinet and searching through it frantically.

“Rob punched me,” Harry gasped.

Daphne and Neville frowned at each other upon hearing that news.

“Take this, or you’re going to feel everything I do and trust me, you do not want to feel your lung getting re-inflated,” Lilly said, holding a potion up to his mouth.

Harry opened his mouth and swallowed the foul green liquid that she had poured into it. Then she did whatever had to be done, and Harry coughed and wheezed for a few seconds until he threw up some disgusting green bile.

“Better?” Lilly asked, cleaning away the sick and sterilising her hands.

Harry nodded and sucked in a deep breath.

“Argh!”

“Yeah no deep breaths, dumbass,” Lilly muttered, “Why the hell did Rob do that to you?”

“I don’t know,” Harry said honestly, “He just lost it with me over a pretty petty argument.”

“What were you arguing with him for?” Daphne asked, smacking Harry around the back of the head, “It’s a full moon tomorrow, and he’s a werewolf, you idiot!”

“I know,” Harry said, rubbing his head, “But he’s never like that before a full moon.”

“There’s a curse making people act crazy,” Daphne reminded him.

“Yeah, in Poplar!” Harry exclaimed, “We’re in the fricking Lake District.”

Lilly frowned, “He has a point, Daph. It wasn’t the curse that made Rob lose it and Harry’s right. Rob is normally a little cranky before the full moon, but he’s not violent.”

“He said something weird after he punched me,” Harry admitted, he took a shallow breath and pushed himself up a little, “He said something about Shep and me being a good team, he called us backstabbers.”

Neville frowned, “What does that mean?”

“I have no idea,” Harry said honestly, “But I am worried that Shep did something stupid without telling me. He spoke to me the other night about suspending Rob to avoid bad press with the hype about all of these creature attacks. I told him it was a stupid idea, and he agreed.”

“You think he went against you and did it anyway?” Lilly asked with a frown.

“I’m starting to wonder,” Harry confessed.

“Well, you can find out in the morning,” Daphne said sternly, “But going behind your back like that doesn’t seem like Johns style.”

“People change when you give them a little bit of power,” Harry said quietly.

Neville helped pull him up from the sofa.

“Not that much. Daphne’s right, talk to him in the morning.”

Harry nodded and grimaced.

“I wouldn’t be up for apparating or floo-ing anywhere tonight, don’t worry.”

“The pain should ease,” Lilly promised, “Take a mild pain potion and get a good nights sleep. You should feel back to normal in the morning.”

Harry sighed and gave her a small nod.

“You’re brilliant, thanks, Lil.”

“I would say anytime, but I don’t want to make this a regular occurrence,” Lilly said, giving him a disapproving look that Madam Pomfrey would have been proud of.

“Me either,” Harry said, he sucked in another shallow breath and let go of Neville, “I hate to ask this Daphne, but can you lend me an arm for the stairs?”

“Of course I can,” Daphne answered. She hooked her arm through her husbands and turned to her best friend.

“Thanks, Lil,” she said softly as she led Harry upstairs.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've finally got some big fluffy storylines coming up soon, thank god because there has been so much angst!!! I won't be uploading over the weekend because I'm super busy but I will have an update for you on Monday :D


	54. You Always Say the Words That Save My Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry finds out why Rob went off the rails and tries to reign him back in before it’s too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:  
> Run Through Walls by The Script.
> 
> (Sorry that it took so long for the update, I had a busy weekend, sorry!)

Harry had planned to talk to John first thing on Wednesday morning, but there was a note on the door to his office stating that he was going to be late. Harry found that odd because, in his entire career, he had never known John to be late. All the same, Harry brought Percy in for his appraisal, which went fine. By the time he was done, John still hadn’t shown up and the next review on the cards for that day was Elizabeth’s.

Harry decided to bring in Oliver Wood and get his appraisal out of the way then he put Aiden Ford in charge and headed over to CPS for the final review of the day. When he walked in, she immediately glanced up guiltily.

“Hey – appraisal time,” Harry said airily.

Elizabeth nodded, “My turn then?”

Harry sat down opposite her and nodded.

“Where’s the gang?”

“Romilda and Dennis are working in the Closes,” Elizabeth replied.

“And Rob is off because it’s the full moon tonight?” Harry guessed.

Elizabeth bit her lip.

Harry narrowed his eyes at her, and Elizabeth tried her best to put on a poker face, but Harry saw right through it.

“That son of a bitch! He suspended Rob, didn’t he? Even though I fucking told him not to!”

“I told him not to as well,” Elizabeth exclaimed.

“Where is that son of a bitch? I’m going to kill him!” Harry snapped.

“Woah,” Elizabeth said, “Harry, don’t do anything rash-”

“Don’t do anything rash?” Harry asked furiously, “If he had just _told_ me the truth I wouldn’t have gotten in a fight with Rob last night that resulted in me getting three ribs broken and a bloody collapsed lung, would I?”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened.

“Rob did that to you?”

“Yeah, Rob did that to me because he had lost his job and his best friend and he thought I was in on it when in reality, I had no clue why he showed up stinking of alcohol, spouting depressing thoughts!” Harry snapped, “All because your idiot of a husband didn’t tell me the damn truth! Now it’s the full moon, and I can bet you that Rob didn’t take his wolfsbane this morning. You know how it will end if he locks himself up tonight, Liz – he hated himself before he became a werewolf.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Elizabeth shrieked, and Harry drew back because he had never seen her angry, “It’s my niece that will lose her father if Rob does something stupid! It’s my sister who will lose her husband, and it’s _my_ husband who will have caused it all!”

Harry shook his head, “So that’s why he didn’t show up this morning? He’s avoiding us.”

Elizabeth blanched, “He didn’t show up this morning?”

“No,” Harry muttered, “He left this cryptic note on the door about being late, but he’s not been in all morning.”

“Oh…no,” Elizabeth said, her eyes wide.

“What? What’s that look for?” Harry asked anxiously, “Oh…no…no. You don’t think he’s that stupid, do you?”

“Stupid enough to go after Rob before he loses his best friend forever?” Elizabeth quipped, “Yes, I think he’s that stupid.”

Harry kicked the wall angrily.

“Where the hell are they going to be?”

“I know where John would go, but I’m not so sure about Rob,” Elizabeth admitted, “I suspect Ireland?”

“Ireland,” Harry said slowly, “The Hills of Kildare.”

“Harry, that’s a big place,” Elizabeth pointed out.

“It doesn’t matter,” Harry said simply, “I’ll find them.”

“Just be careful,” Elizabeth said, her eyes meeting his.

Harry’s heart skipped a beat – he was reminded of words his mother had said to him as a baby and of words Hermione had said to him on multiple occasions.

“I will be.”

* * *

True to his word – Harry found Rob. It took a few hours of searching, and as such, it was getting on towards evening when he eventually saw the Irishman sitting atop a hill with his eyes on the sky.

“Rob!” Harry called as he walked towards him, “Rob, I swear I didn’t know what Shep did.”

Rob looked coldly at him.

“Like hell you didn’t,” he said, shoving himself to his feet.

“I didn’t,” Harry promised, “I only found out this morning from Elizabeth. I had no idea. If I’d known I would never have fought with you last night.”

“Because you’re scared of me?” Rob growled, “Like everyone else is?”

Harry shook his head, “If I was scared of you, would I be standing here hours before the full moon?”

Rob looked away from Harry to the darkening sky.

“I’m not scared of you, but I am sorry,” Harry said, “I told him not to suspend you, Elizabeth told him not to suspend you, but he didn’t listen to either of us.”

“Like hell,” Rob scoffed, “You’d take any chance you could to get rid of the department embarrassment, the lot of you. It was all fine and well to have a werewolf on the team when that made you look good, wasn’t it? It was all _look how inclusive we are_ , but now you throw me to the curb because I’m not any fucking use to you!”

“That wasn’t what it was about!” Harry snapped, “I was against the idea from the get-go and Shep, yeah he didn’t want the department to look bad, but he also didn’t want the vultures coming after you.”

“Sheppard doesn’t give a shit about me, and he definitely doesn’t care about protecting me,” Rob spat, “He’s just like Sumner was and you’ll probably follow in his footsteps. That’s what it takes to be Head Auror after all, isn’t it? You’ve got to make the hard decisions, and you know all about that.”

“Yeah, I do know all about that!” Harry agreed, “And if it had been my call, I’d not have done anything with you. I’d have stood my ground and backed you when the press came calling, and I would have shown the wizarding world that we don’t judge a whole race based on the actions of a few people.”

Rob didn’t know what to say to that.

“And I don’t think you’re the department embarrassment,” Harry continued angrily, “I have looked up to you from the moment I met you, do you know that?”

Rob’s eyes softened.

“I…” he shook his head.

“I met you, and I saw a man who was desperate to change the world but unable to do it,” Harry said, his eyes burning into Rob’s, “I saw an Auror who didn’t care about glory, who didn’t give a shit about politics. I saw a man who wanted to help kids, kids who were orphaned, unloved kids, abused kids - _kids like me._ ”

Rob tried his best to hide the tears in his eyes when he looked back at Harry, but it was a futile effort.

Harry didn’t care anyway. He was crying too. He had lost enough people in recent years; he couldn’t lose anyone else.

“I worked with you for a few weeks, and all I could think was, I wish there had been a Rob in _my_ life. I looked up to you like a father and I won’t lie, more than once I wondered what my life would have been like if you had come and taken me away from my aunt and uncle, like I took Alastor away from a life of poverty.”

Harry shook his head angrily and looked Rob in the eye once more.

“So for you to think that lowly of me? So lowly that you think I feel like you’re an embarrassment to the department? That hurts, Rob because you – you’re everything good about the department. You are everything right about it. _You_ are the reason that we do what we do. It’s not about glory, it’s not about becoming a politician, it’s not about roles like Head Auror, it’s about saving lives, and it’s about making a difference. You taught me that, and you made me into the Auror that I am. They all talk about me being the chosen one, they say I’ll become the youngest ever Head Auror, and they all think it’s because I killed Voldemort when I was a kid, but that’s not true. The reason I’m so good, the reason I’ll beat all of these records? It’s _because of you_.”

“I love you too, kid,” Rob said, his voice thick with emotion.

Harry laughed a little tearfully.

“I pour my heart out to you, and you come back with that? Come on, that’s worse than Han Solo saying _I know_ after Leia says she loves him.”

Rob laughed too; he leant against a nearby tree.

“Seriously, Harry – all I’ve ever wanted for Nick is for him to turn out as half the man you are. All I want is for him to be as good a person as you are, despite your start in life.”

“He will be,” Harry promised Rob, “How can he not be with you as his Dad?”

Rob bowed his head.

“I’ve had a lot of father figures in my life, Rob,” Harry said honestly, “They all leave me in the end, I never get enough time with them. The minute I get close to them, they’re gone.”

Rob swallowed and nodded.

“But you have been here for five years,” Harry said – he reached out and gripped Rob’s shoulder, “You’ve never left, and you’ve never failed to be there for me. So when I thought you were going to lock yourself up when that moon came out tonight…”

Harry cleared his throat, “That hurt worse than it did when I saw Sirius go through the veil or when I saw Remus’s body in the great hall after the battle.”

Rob pulled him into a bear hug, and Harry could tell that the older man was crying.

“Guess nows a bad time to tell you that I really did shag your mum in high school and that I’m your real Dad, huh?” Rob joked half-heartedly.

Harry chuckled and drew back with a smile on his face. He was ready to tell Rob to shut up when the smile on his lips died because of what he saw over Rob’s shoulder.

Rob frowned and turned around – his eyes darkening when he saw John approaching them. Harry cursed under his breath when Rob growled and drew himself up to his full height.

“I had just calmed him down,” Harry muttered to himself.

“Rob, I’m sorry-”

“No,” Rob barked, “You don’t get to be sorry. It’s too late for an apology. I don’t even know how you found me.”

“Harry told Elizabeth that you were here and she told me-” John began to say.

“See? That’s everything that’s wrong with us!” Rob barked, “Harry knew where I was, but you didn’t, and you’re supposed to be my best friend.”

“Rob-”

“No, you don’t get it,” Rob said with a shake of his head, “Do you have any idea what I did to Harry last night, _because of you_?”

Harry grimaced.

“I hit him, and I don’t know what damage it did, but I sent him flying,” Rob said angrily. He turned to Harry, “What did I do to you?”

“Nothing, I’m fine,” Harry lied.

“Harry,” Rob said impatiently, “Tell the truth.”

Harry sighed, “Three broken ribs and a collapsed lung.”

“See?” Rob yelled as he turned back to John, “All because you couldn’t communicate with the kid! All because you didn’t listen to him, because you didn’t trust him! What kind of Head Auror doesn’t trust the guy _he_ made his Assistant?”

“I do trust him,” John said. He backed away as Rob advanced on him and his back hit a tree.

“Like you supposedly trust me?” Rob asked, his eyes flashing amber, “You don’t look like you trust me right now, you look like you’re shitting yourself.”

John took a breath and looked Rob directly in the eye – there were centimetres between them and Rob at his full height was taller than John.

“I trust you, and I am not afraid of you,” John said, his voice didn’t waver in the slightest.

Rob stopped and looked him in the eye for a moment. John kept his eyes locked on Rob’s as the werewolf studied him – it felt like a predator was assessing him. After a very long minute, Rob moved back slightly,

“I’m sorry,” John said quietly, “I was trying to protect you and the department-”

“Me _and_ the department!” Rob growled, closing the distance between himself and John and gripping the Head Auror by the throat. Within seconds, he had him pinned against the tree.

John gasped for breath and Harry reached for his wand for the first time since he had come across Rob.

“You and your fucking department!” Rob snarled, “That’s why they made you the Head Auror because you put the department before everything else, don’t you? You put it before me!”

John tried to shake his head, and Rob loosened his grasp a little.

“No,” John rasped, “I don’t put it before everything. There are some things I care about more than a stupid job.”

Rob didn’t look convinced.

John reached in his pocket, and for a second, both Rob and Harry thought he was going for his wand. Rob tightened his grip on the other man's throat, and Harry took a step forward, ready to split them apart.

John pulled out his badge and threw it to the ground, “I don’t care about it, and I don’t want it. If being Head Auror means making calls like this, calls that could have cost me my best friend then I don’t want it. It’s not worth your life, Rob.”

Rob let go of John, and for a moment, both John and Harry weren’t sure if he was going to curse him or punch him. Instead, Rob pulled John in for a bear hug, and Harry blew out a sigh of relief, slipping his wand back into his pocket.

John hugged Rob back tightly, “I’m sorry, man.”

Harry shook his head in amusement, “What is it with you lot thinking you can add ‘man’ onto the end of a sentence to make it sound less gay? It’s like Theo and Draco all over again, all we need now is a freak thunderstorm, and you’ll be making out.”

Rob pulled back and shot Harry a vaguely amused look,

Harry grinned in response, “As cute as that was - it’s not the time. The full moon is going to be out in less than half an hour, and this little reunion won’t end well if that happens on this hilltop.”

“When did he get so sassy?” John muttered.

“He’s always been sassy, I just honed his skill,” Rob said, shooting Harry a grin, “Thanks, kid.”

Harry smiled, “Thanks for seeing sense. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost you, Rob.”

“You’ll never lose me,” Rob said, gripping Harry’s shoulder tightly, “That’s a promise.”

Harry wasn’t used to open shows of emotion from Rob. They had never had that kind of relationship, so instead of hugging the older man, Harry resorted to insulting him.

“Come on old man, let’s get you chained up at Blacknot Castle.”

“I’m really not that old,” Rob complained.

“You’re old enough to be my dad,” Harry reminded him, “And I have four kids. You’re basically a grandad, Rob.”

“I’m only 44 for fucks sake!”

* * *

When Harry and John walked into CPS together and saw Elizabeth sitting at her desk, they both knew that they were in for a real grilling.

“What happened?” Elizabeth asked, looking between them.

“Well let’s just say that the latent homosexual feelings between Rob and Shep are no longer latent,” Harry remarked sarcastically.

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at her husband.

“You didn’t?”

“I hugged him, we made up,” John said with a shrug, “Nothing else.”

“You threw your badge down and said you would give up the Head Auror job because it wasn’t more important than his life,” Harry reminded John.

At this, both of Elizabeth’s eyebrows shot up.

“Did you?”

“Yeah,” John sighed. He sat down on an armchair by the fire and let his head drop into his hands.

“So is it the full white wedding or just a trip to the registry office for you two?” Elizabeth quipped.

Harry snorted in amusement.

John shot her an exasperated look.

“Ha-ha.”

Elizabeth smirked and turned to Harry.

“How’s Rob?”

“He’s okay,” Harry answered, “He’s chained up at Blacknot Castle for the night.”

“Good,” Elizabeth said, her eyes on John, “Are you really giving it up?”

“I can’t do it, Liz,” John said, looking up at her, “It nearly lost me Rob tonight and if he had died…I could never have lived with myself. It would have destroyed me.”

Elizabeth nodded.

“I don’t like what this job is doing to me,” John said honestly, “I hate the politics and I…” he shook his head, “I just don’t want it.”

“Okay,” Elizabeth said calmly, “Let’s think about this logically before you barge into the head of the DMLE’s office and resign. Who is going to replace you?”

John looked up at Harry.

“Do you think you could do it?”

Harry looked over in surprise.

“Me?”

“Yeah, you.”

“Now?”

John nodded.

Harry sank into the armchair opposite John.

“You’ve already proven that you have the people skills,” John said, “And you know all of the right people on the political side of it already through the Wizengamot. You know how to talk to them, how to get things done and when you do get stuck your pureblood wife helps you out.”

Harry nodded thoughtfully.

“You proved today that you’re better at making the hard decisions than I am,” John admitted, “I made the wrong call today, and it nearly cost me not just my best friend, but a damn good Auror. You have been a leader for a long time – in the war, as an Auror and you have never made the wrong call.”

“I just listen to my gut,” Harry admitted, “I always have done.”

“It’s a gift I don’t have,” John said, his eyes meeting Harry’s, “So do you think you could do it? And do you want it?”

“I want it,” Harry said honestly, “And yes, I think I can do it, but I can’t have Draco as my Assistant Head yet.”

John shook his head, “I would agree with you – he’s not ready.”

“The job is his when he’s ready for it, but if I’m jumping in at the deep end I’ll need an older, more experienced Auror to be my Assistant to show me the ropes,” Harry said with a frown, “Would you step down?”

John shook his head, “No, I can’t I’m sorry. I need a clean break.”

“Do you want the training centre?” Harry asked.

John shook his head, “No, Harry. I just want to be an Auror – find a department that needs me and put me there.”

Harry looked away from him and sought out Elizabeth.

“In that case – how do you feel about the job, Lizzie?” he asked in a flawless Irish accent.

Elizabeth looked startled.

“Firstly – never do that again and secondly, _what_?”

“You would be a fantastic Assistant Head,” Harry said honestly, “You’re great with people, and you are empathetic, which is a vital trait. All of my weaknesses are strong points for you – we would be a good team, you would keep me right, you would tell me when I was going too far, and unlike your idiot of a husband, I would actually listen to you.”

John huffed in the background.

Elizabeth stared at Harry.

“You’re serious?”

Harry nodded, “Are you interested in the job?”

“Yes, of course,” Elizabeth replied, “I just…I never aspired to it because I didn’t think it would happen.”

“I don’t know why – you’re a brilliant Auror and an even better politician,” John said with a slight smile.

Elizabeth smiled at her husband then turned to Harry.

“Thank you.”

“Thank _you_ ,” Harry returned. He looked between John and Elizabeth and said, “There’s more to work out, but that can be done in the morning when I’m not exhausted.”

“I agree with that,” Elizabeth agreed – her eyes on John.

“Am I allowed to come home tonight?” He asked cautiously.

“You can come home, but you’re sleeping on the sofa,” Elizabeth said bluntly.

John shook his head and pushed himself to his feet.

“Nah, I’m going to camp out at Blacknot Castle, so I’m there when Rob wakes up in the morning.”

Elizabeth smiled, “Okay – stay safe.”

John nodded and shot her a smile on his way out of the door.

Once he was gone, Elizabeth asked, “So if you and I end up running this place who is going to look after CPS?”

Harry smirked, “Oh, don’t worry – I’ve got an idea,” he said cryptically.

* * *

When Harry got home that night, it was late, but his family were still gathered in the drawing-room of Potter Manor – minus the kids.

“Where the hell have you been?” Daphne asked.

“And why do you look like shit?” Lilly added.

Neville frowned and watched Harry stroll across the room. He sat down and sunk into a chair by the fire.

“I’m Head Auror.”

“What?” Daphne snapped.

“Who died?” Lilly echoed.

“Nobody,” Harry replied with a frown, “John just had a mental breakdown over a fight with Rob – it’s a long story, but either way, I’m Head Auror.”

Daphne and Lilly were dumbstruck.

“Congratulations,” Neville said proudly.

“I’m 25, and I’m Head Auror,” Harry said in disbelief.

“Do you want to say Head Auror one more time?” Daphne teased.

Harry turned to look at his wife.

“I’m the fucking Head Auror, Daphne.”

“Really? You didn’t mention that,” Daphne remarked with an amused smile.

Harry shook his head in disbelief, and Neville smiled knowingly – Harry had been like this after Voldemort had died too. It had taken a few days for it all to sink in.

Lilly snorted, “What made John lose it?”

“He made a bad call,” Harry said, “He suspended Rob without telling me, even though I advised him against it the other night. That was why Rob was so aggressive when he came here last night – he thought I was in on it.”

“Right,” Daphne said with a nod, “That makes a bit more sense now.”

Harry leant back in his chair and sighed, “Yeah and to cut a long story short; Rob ran away to Kildare to lock himself up and turn – without taking his wolfsbane.”

Lilly shook her head, “How selfish! He’s a father!”

“Yes well so is Harry and let’s not forget his recent selfish, stupid actions,” Neville said dryly.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself, Nev,” Daphne said smoothly.

“Woah, enough,” Lilly cut in, “We’ve been through that a hundred times. It’s over – Harry is sorry, and he isn’t going to do it again. Let’s just be happy for him because he’s just got his dream job rather than bring him down over an idiotic mistake – and it was idiotic, Harry.”

“I know it was Lil,” Harry said honestly. He frowned over at them and sighed, “As for the whole thing with Rob….From my experience – people don’t do that because they want attention or because they are dramatic. They do it because they are in so much pain that they can’t see through it. That’s the thing I realised about suicide after I spoke to Caroline, it’s the cowards way out because it hurts the people you love more than it hurts you.”

Daphne swallowed and looked away from him.

“Yeah,” Neville agreed, placing his hand on Harry’s arm, “Death is far more painful for the people left behind.”

Harry looked over at Daphne who still wouldn’t meet his eye.

“When Rob realised that, and when he realised that he was appreciated and loved more than he knew – there was no question in his mind about getting somewhere safe and letting me chain him up.”

“He never really wanted to do it,” Lilly said perceptively, “That’s what you’re saying, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Harry agreed, “Because Rob has been like a father to me in recent years, and you know the old phrase, like father like son.”

Daphne smiled a little sadly at that.

“So you used your recent experience to talk someone else down? You turned it into a positive, a way to help someone you loved?”

“That’s exactly what I did,” Harry agreed. He rose to his feet and pulled her up from the chair, into his arms, “Because between the three of you, I’ve finally realised that my life is worth living.”

* * *

When Rob woke up on Thursday morning, he felt black and blue. He blinked groggily and tried to move but doing so made his entire body throb.

“Take it easy,” John said gently as he unlocked the door to the outhouse.

Rob winced when the sunlight streamed in.

“You gave yourself a right beating last night,” John added as he looked Rob up and down.

“Could you not look at me like that while I’m naked?” Rob muttered, “Especially after you declared your love for me last night.”

John shot him a sceptical look.

“I gave the top job up for you last night, or have you forgotten that part?”

Rob looked up, “You meant that?”

“Yeah, I meant that,” John said. He knelt next to Rob, “And for the record, I wasn’t eying you up. I was assessing your injuries because you look like shit.”

Rob looked down at himself, “Fuck…I do, don’t I?”

“You kept pulling against the chains,” John said, flinging Rob a pair of slacks to put on, “From the crack I heard around 3 am, I think you might have broken an ankle.”

Rob opened his mouth to say that he wouldn’t have done something so stupid, but before he could, John pressed on his swollen right ankle, and Rob threw his head back and shrieked.

“Yeah, definitely broken,” John said calmly, “Open your mouth.”

Rob looked at him, warily, “Not until you tell me what you’re going to put in it.”

John pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket.

“Is that clean?”

“ _Scougify_! It is now,” John replied dryly.

Rob sighed in defeat and opened his mouth. John shoved the handkerchief in and said, “Bite down – this is going to hurt, and no amount of numbing charms will help you because of your werewolf DNA.”

Rob just nodded so John fixed his broken ankle with a localised, “ _Episkey_!”

Rob’s eyes watered as he cried out in pain and bit down on the handkerchief.

John at least had the decency to look guilty when he pulled it out and inspected Rob's wrists which were black, blue and bleeding from his straining against the chains. He carefully removed the shackles and healed Rob’s wrists then he did the same with Rob’s other ankle.

“Gave yourself a sore one,” John said, motioning at Rob’s chest.

Rob pushed himself to his feet gingerly and pulled his trousers on.

“It’ll heal.”

“Can’t I at least seal it for you?” John asked, reaching out and steadying his best friend.

“It’s fine, it’ll heal quickly,” Rob said as he limped out of the outhouse, “Why are you here?”

“Because I was worried about you,” John admitted, he rubbed his eyes, “So I stood guard last night.”

“All night?” Rob asked.

“Yeah,” John answered, “I know I fucked things up, Rob. I mean I’ve fucked things up more times than I can count – we missed years of each other’s lives, but now that we’re friends again, I genuinely don’t think I can live without you. When I thought you were going to kill yourself last night, I was just…lost.”

“I wasn’t going to kill myself,” Rob said gruffly, “The kid talked me down.”

“But if he hadn’t?” John retorted, catching up with Rob and standing in front of him, “If he hadn’t found you I would have come into work this morning to see grave faces, wouldn’t I? I’d have been forced to look at the crime scene pictures, sign the document that ruled it as a suicide.”

Rob looked away from John.

“Harry said it to me last night after we’d got you all chained up and you were howling at the moon,” John said quietly, “Suicide is a cop-out, it’s a cowards way out. It would have been easy for you to look yourself up, let yourself transform and then let the wolf in you tear the man apart but do you know who it wouldn’t have been easy for?”

Rob looked him in the eye. He hadn’t seen an expression that hard on John’s face for a long time.

“Us,” John said firmly, “The people who love you that you left behind so don’t you dare do that again, you hear me? No matter how bad it gets, don’t do that to me again.”

“I was never going to,” Rob confessed, his eyes softer than they had been before, “Before Jen, I did hate myself. Nick was all I had, all the good in me I’d channelled into him and if I had been turned back then? I’d not have lasted, but now I’ve got a woman who loves me despite my many flaws and I have my best friend back again so when I thought you’d gone behind my back for the _department_ ,” he practically spat the word, “That hurt more than it did when you stole my girl all those years ago.”

John stared him right in the eye.

“I made a bad call, Rob and the consequences of that, what the consequences _could_ have been tore me apart. I meant what I said last night. I don’t want the job if this is what it does to me.”

“So you throwing the badge down was for real,” Rob said.

“It was for real,” John agreed, “I’m done, I’m not the Head Auror anymore.”

Rob frowned, “Then…who is?”

John opened his mouth to answer, but before he could a huge, majestic stag pranced into the grounds of the castle and spoke with Harry’s voice.

“ _Good morning, sunshines! The sun is out, and the sky is bright, it’s another beautiful day to save lives. Get your arses into CPS as soon as you can – we need to work through some stuff_.”

The Patronus vanished, and Rob looked at John in disbelief.

“No way.”

John shrugged, “Who else?”

“My kids the Head Auror?”

“He’s not your kid,” John reminded Rob, hooking his arm under the werewolf as they headed for the gate together.

“He’s as good as,” Rob pointed out, “He said as much last night.”

“If he’s your kid, then you’ve got four grandkids,” John pointed out, shooting him a sideways grin, “Explains why you can’t keep up with me anymore – grandad.”

“If it wasn’t for the fact I was drained of every ounce of energy in my body, I would deck you right now, you bastard,” Rob returned.

“You don’t even sound like you mean that,” John snickered.

Rob smiled slightly, and as the sun rose behind them, they stumbled out of the gates together.

* * *

When John and Rob stumbled into CPS together, it was empty bar Harry and Elizabeth who were drinking coffee, sharing a muffin and pouring over a large diary together.

“Aren’t you two cosy?” John joked.

“New dream team,” Harry shot back with, “Rob, get your arse on that sofa and get that wound sealed.”

“I’m fine,” Rob objected.

“I know werewolves heal fast, but that’s going to get infected,” Harry said calmly, “So sit your arse down and let someone heal you. If you’re still pissed at John, I can do it.”

Rob sat down and grimaced.

“I’m not that pissed – he had a pretty good apology.”

“Did he snog you in a thunderstorm or declare his love for you atop a tower? Or are you not quite at Draco and Theo levels yet?” Harry asked sarcastically.

“I regret teaching you how to be sassy,” Rob muttered with a shake of his head.

“You didn’t teach me anything,” Harry said with a smirk, “I was sassy to Severus Snape when I was 13, it’s the James Potter in me.”

Elizabeth smiled in amusement, “Oh, I don’t know about that – your mother was just as sassy, normally to your father.”

“You knew her?” Harry asked in surprise.

“Uh-huh,” Elizabeth replied from behind her coffee mug, “She was a bookworm, and I was a Ravenclaw, our paths naturally crossed in the library from time to time.”

Harry smiled at that, “I didn’t know that, but I guess it makes sense.”

John dabbed a dittany cream onto Rob’s wound, and the Irishman winced.

“Why did you summon us here, my lord?” Rob asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Really, I’ve had the job less than 24 hours, and you’re comparing me to Sauron?” Harry snorted.

Rob grinned then winced when John dabbed his chest too hard

“Mate, you suck at this. Lizzie, can you take over?”

“No,” Elizabeth replied matter of factly.

“Why?” Rob complained.

“Because I’m pissed off with you and unlike John, I have nothing to feel guilty for,” Elizabeth retorted, “Trust me, he’s more gentle with you than I would be right now.”

Harry made a face, “In light of your rekindled bromance, that sentence makes me feel rather nauseous.”

Elizabeth shot him an amused look.

“Would you like to enlighten them on why you summoned them here?”

“Of course,” Harry said calmly, “I summoned you here because there are changes afoot. I mean, there have to be in light of John’s recent mental breakdown.”

“It wasn’t a mental breakdown,” John cut in, “Merely a change of heart.”

Elizabeth shot him a sceptical look.

“I don’t even think _you_ believe that, honey.”

Rob smirked at John who kept his mouth shut – he didn’t need to piss his wife off any more than he had already in the past 24 hours.

“This changes the power dynamic, but it also leaves holes in the department that need to be filled,” Harry pointed out, “I need to find somewhere for John to go, and I need an Assistant Head Auror.”

“Well just put John in your old role,” Rob said, “Let him lead Homicide with Draco.”

Harry shook his head, “I’m not going to put anyone in that role. I’m going to leave Homicide running with five members of staff. Draco is in charge, and if he needs to go out in the field, he takes Terry or Jason as back-up. Hell, he can do what he wants with that department. If he wants to take the whole team to every crime scene, he can.”

John frowned, “It’s not how the department operates.”

“Well, maybe that needs to change,” Harry said simply, “If Draco needs a partner for any reason, I’ll still be that for him. I won’t be a Head Auror who works solely out of an office.”

“But it’s too risky for you to work the field,” John cut in, “Look at what could have happened when Jack and I went on that raid in the church.”

“I agree with you,” Harry said with a sly smile, “Which is why I need an Assistant Head Auror who is willing to retire from fieldwork. Someone happy to work a desk so that if anything happens to me – they will always be there as back-up.”

John had been privy to part of the conversation the night before so he knew where Harry was going with this, but Rob didn’t.

“That being said, I also need to know if a certain hot-headed werewolf is coming back or if I’m burning his badge,” Harry said, looking pointedly at Rob.

Rob looked a little sheepish.

“I want it back.”

Harry pulled it out of his pocket and said, “You need to stop giving it away, you know?”

Rob rolled his eyes and held out his hand.

“Just give it back.”

Harry didn’t hand the badge over just yet though.

“I’ll give it back to you on two conditions.”

Rob narrowed his eyes at him.

“Okay?”

“One – I need you to give up Elizabeth,” Harry said with an amused smile, “Because she’s my new Assistant Head Auror, I’d have asked you, but I know you’ve never wanted it.”

Rob snorted, “The Assistant Head Auror is the one who needs to be a people person, remember?”

“Which is the real reason why I didn’t ask you, but I didn’t want you to get offended,” Harry smirked.

Rob grinned, “Sly, I like it. What’s your other condition?”

Harry grinned broadly, “Do you reckon you can put up with this pain in the arse on a more permanent basis?”

“He’s Liz’s replacement?” Rob asked in surprise.

Harry nodded and looked at John, who didn’t seem surprised by this, “Yep.”

“But…” Rob frowned, “I’m still in charge, right? Because technically he’s a superior officer.”

“Rob, he’s just been demoted from Head Auror to CPS,” Harry said in disbelief, “Do you really think I’m going to put him in charge? He’s a bundle of bad decisions and nervous energy – of course, you’re in charge.”

Rob grinned wolfishly at this and clapped his hands.

“Oh, that’s a deal,” he said eagerly.

Harry handed him back his badge and saw John rolling his eyes out of the corner of his eye.

“I’m your boss,” Rob said excitedly, “And do you know what? That back cabinet room needs filing.”

“Fuck you,” John retorted.

“That’s no way to speak to your superior, Sheppard,” Harry remarked smoothly.

“I was literally your boss up until 24 hours ago, you little dick,” John muttered irritably.

“Hey Shep, that’s no way to speak to the Head Auror!” Rob exclaimed.

Harry grinned at the werewolf.

“Treat your superiors with respect, Sheppard,” he agreed.

“You’re enjoying this a little too much,” John huffed.

“Oh, you deserve it,” Elizabeth said airily.

And despite the massive changes that were afoot – the air felt lighter than it had in a while.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	55. Where My Past Can't Run Me Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry tells Draco his good news and the team finally get somewhere close to catching the person behind the mysterious creature attacks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:
> 
> Vice by Miranda Lambert.

When Draco stepped into the Assistant Head Auror office and saw Harry bouncing on the balls of his feet, he knew something was afoot.

“Good morning,” Draco said calmly.

Harry smiled a little nervously.

“Morning. Listen, I called you in here because something happened last night and we need to talk about it. I don’t know how to say it Draco, so I’m just going to throw it out there.”

Draco raised an eyebrow, “She’s not pregnant again, is she?”

Harry frowned, “She…what?”

“Daphne,” Draco said slowly, “Why? Who else would be pregnant?”

“No one,” Harry said quickly, “And no. Good Godric, no,” he shook his head.

Draco cocked his head at his friend.

“What has you positively bouncing then?”

“I’m going to be Head Auror,” Harry blurted out.

Draco’s eyes widened, “Seriously?”

“Yes,” Harry said. He paused and took a calming breath, “Shep is stepping down because he made a bad call, and it nearly got Rob killed. He asked me to take over as Head, and I said yes.”

“Of course you did - congratulations,” Draco said genuinely.

Harry managed a small smile.

“When I take the job, I won’t be taking you on as my Assistant Head, and I need to explain why. It’s not because I’m passing you over, it’s not that at all.”

Draco watched him curiously.

“I’m making Liz my Assistant Head,” Harry explained, “At least for the first year, maybe for the first two. I’m throwing myself into the deep end here, and if I’m doing that I need someone I can trust who is experienced enough to help me settle into the job.”

Draco nodded, “Elizabeth is a great choice. She will keep you right, and she’ll steer you back into the slow lane when you get too fast.”

Harry frowned, “Did you just make a driving analogy?”

“Yeah, I’ve been experimenting with this new car that Hermione bought and it has lane assist,” Draco said offhandedly, “It’s this thing that drags you back into your lane if you veer over the lines, it’s amazing. That’s what Elizabeth will be to you – your lane assist.”

Harry’s frown deepened, “Uh…okay. I feel like you just opened your mouth and Theo’s words came out in your voice but fair enough. Anyway, the Assistant Head job is yours when you’re ready for it, and Elizabeth knows that. She’s happy to step in and fill the void until then, but she won’t fight you for it when your time comes.”

“I appreciate that,” Draco said honestly.

Harry smiled, “I’m glad that you understand. I just want to make sure that when I make you Assistant Head, I’m ready to teach you how to do the job properly. I don’t want to throw you in at the deep end like John did with me. I want to be able to teach you everything I know because I’ll never be anything more than Head Auror. I don’t aspire any further than that, but you do, and if you’re going to make it in politics, there will come a day when you need to prove yourself.”

Draco frowned and looked at Harry.

“There will come a time when you reach a very high position,” Harry explained, “And people will go back to what they used to say when you first started in the department. They’ll say you are a Malfoy masquerading as a Black and you will need to prove them wrong. That’s why I want you to get there on your own – not because I put you there.”

Draco nodded, “I agree completely.”

“Homicide is yours,” Harry confessed, “I’ll still be your Auror partner. I’m not going to be the kind of Head Auror who sits behind a desk all day, so if you have a raid or if you need me in the field, I’ll be there. Regardless of anything else, we’re partners.”

Draco smiled and held out his hand, “Agreed.”

Harry took it and shook it firmly, “You’re already leading Homicide, and you’re doing a bloody good job of it. Keep it up, step out of my shadow and show the wizarding world that you’re just as good an Auror as I am.”

Draco smirked, “Oh, I will. Don’t you worry about that.”

Harry grinned at him response, “Keep it quiet until Monday, alright? That’s when the official announcement is going to be made – until then I’m the acting Head Auror because John’s ill, that’s all anyone needs to know.”

“Okay,” Draco agreed, “Do you have time for a briefing? We’re finally getting somewhere with our curse case.”

“I definitely have time for that,” Harry said, picking up his coffee cup and following Draco out of the office, “You weren’t in here all night, were you?”

“No, I was up all night, but I wasn’t here,” Draco admitted.

“That’s enough about your sex life.”

Draco snorted, “I wish that’s what I was doing. I was comforting a teething baby; you remember those days?”

“Yes, I do, and I’m going to be reliving them soon with Thea,” Harry said with a shake of his head, “I can’t believe you thought Daphne was pregnant again. She likes kids, but even she’s not that keen.”

Draco chuckled, “While I sang lullabies and read Beedle the Bard fairytales to Cas, I had the Juniors working on the case for me, and they came through.”

He opened the door to the Homicide Office, and the two men slipped inside.

“I hear you have news?” Harry said, sitting down on the edge of his desk.

“Yes,” Owen said excitedly, “Our leads all seemed to come together last night. We used the werewolf and vampire-related calls to triangulate an area, and we got a small enough one to search via the records.”

“We checked if any witches or wizards lived in the area,” Ben chimed in, “And we got a few results back, but one name was familiar to us.”

“Let’s see if my hunch is right then,” Harry said, “Lux Montgomery?”

“Close,” Jason said from his perch on the other side of the room, “Ivy Montgomery.”

Harry frowned, “Ivy? No…she’s the sister who thinks that we shouldn’t punish all werewolves for the actions of one.”

“Lux is the verbal one, but they were both Slytherins,” Draco pointed out, “We’re sneaky, and we’re good liars – what if Ivy is just as bad or worse? But she’s quiet, and she puts up an act which would automatically make everyone suspect Lux.”

Harry shook his head, “I don’t know, it just doesn’t sit right with me. Jason, does Lux live with her sister?”

Jason shook his head, “She lives with her mother. Ivy and their mother never saw eye to eye, so she moved out but got cut off for doing so.”

“Hence why she lives in Poplar,” Harry said with a nod, “Draco – don’t tell Lilly I said that, she’d have my guts even if she wasn’t pregnant with twins and hormonal as fuck.”

Draco snorted, “Isn’t that how you and Lilly bonded? Over both being from rough areas?”

“Hey, I’m from Surrey,” Harry said with a raised eyebrow, “That’s not rough, she’s from the East End.”

“Oh trust me I know,” Draco said with a shake of his head, “Anyone who spends five minutes with that girl can tell she’s from the East End, even after Daphne attempted to give her elocution lessons.”

“Yeah, I’m not convinced they lasted very long,” Harry said with a laugh, “I seem to remember Lilly telling Daphne that she was a rough diamond and that she wasn’t planning on changing anytime soon. Anyway, we’ve gone off-topic – I have a theory.”

“About the box?” Jason asked.

Harry nodded, “What if Lux planted it in Ivy’s flat? All we know from that triangulation thing that you did is that the _box_ is in that area. We don’t know if Ivy opened it or if she even knows about its existence.”

“Good point,” Draco said with a nod, “But we’ll have to tread carefully all the same. We’ll go out today and search the area for the box – if we find it, we can dig deeper and work out how it ended up there.”

“I’ll send Daphne a Patronus, she wants to be the one to break this curse,” Harry said with a wave of his hand, “So before we go anywhere near that cursed box, we need her.”

“Another lead came in early this morning,” Terry said, “A link back to the Jack the Ripper case. In 1888 when the attacks were happening, there was a Detective Inspector Montgomery on the case, a Muggle.”

“So it links up to those sisters,” Harry said, “I did think so. I’ve suspected Lux ever since the first werewolf attack, but I wasn’t about to accuse a former Auror when we had no evidence to tie her to the case.”

“Your hunches are rarely wrong so let’s work on the assumption that Lux is behind this but keep Ivy at arm's length until the box has been destroyed,” Draco instructed, “Harry – summon your wife. Guys, get ready to go because as soon as she stalks in here, we’re going to stake out Ivy’s flat.”

The rest of the team nodded and prepared themselves for the day ahead.

“Whose going to hold the fort while we go out?” Draco asked as an afterthought.

Harry was already in the doorway, “I can’t believe I’m saying this,” he admitted, “But I’m just about to nip in and ask Theo.”

“Will miracles never cease?” Draco joked with a chuckle as Harry left the office.

* * *

Daphne did stalk into the office – just as Draco had predicted. When she did, all eyes turned to her (apart from Draco’s – he rolled his instead) because she was wearing dragonhide trousers and high-heeled boots.

“You break curses dressed like that?” Terry asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

“I don’t just break curses, I look good while doing it,” Daphne said smoothly. She clapped her hands and smirked at them, “Come on then boys, what are you waiting for?”

“You – Daphne,” Draco said irritably, “We’ve been waiting for half an hour for you to drag your arse in here.”

Owen opened his mouth, and Harry pointed at him.

“No comments about how fine that arse is.”

Without saying a word, Owen shut his mouth.

Daphne opened the door, “I don’t like waiting around; let’s go.”

Nobody moved apart from Harry. He pushed himself to his feet, grabbed his red Auror robes and grinned at his team-mates.

“You heard the lady, let’s go.”

Without another word, the entire team trekked out of the office towards the apparition point.

Harry held back and let Draco take the lead on the way to Ivy’s flat. When they got there and scoped it out as a top floor apartment, the blond man turned to Daphne.

“Do you think you can zero in on the box from the roof?”

“Easily,” Daphne replied, “A localised locator spell should do it, but I’ll need one of you to break through the wards first.”

“You should do it, Draco,” Harry said, looking up at the roof of the building, “Ivy is an Auror, her wards will be difficult to break through, and if Daphne needs to borrow some of my magic, I’ll need to preserve it.”

Draco lowered his voice and took a step closer to Harry so that the rest of the team wouldn’t hear.

“You could have done it before you gave away a quarter of your magic.”

“And I could probably still do it now,” Harry whispered back, “But Daphne can’t break the curse without me, so I don’t want to take the chance.”

Draco held his gaze for a moment then nodded.

“Are you two done?” Daphne asked from where she was leaning against a nearby lamppost, “This is like being back at school.”

Draco shot her an irritated look and said, “We’ll get you onto the roof, and I’ll break through the wards. Reckon you can take it from there?”

“Of course I can,” Daphne replied, “I would suggest we use a -”

Draco had already pulled his wand out, and as she spoke, he performed an intricate piece of transfiguration to turn some pieces of steel by the side of the building into a sturdy ladder.

Draco shot Daphne a smirk.

“Leave it to the Aurors.”

Daphne rolled her eyes.

Harry raised an eyebrow at the two of them

“Or we could have just walked around the back of the building and used the fire escape,” he said with a shrug, “But your way is more dramatic, I guess.”

Draco frowned and walked around the back of the building. Harry grinned at Daphne and the rest of the team.

“Wait for it…”

Ben raised an eyebrow at him.

“One…two…three and…”

“How did you know there was a fire escape around here?” Draco’s voice called.

Owen snorted in amusement and Harry grinned.

“I’m just that good.”

“You grew up in Surrey – how do you know so much about East End architecture?” Daphne asked, narrowing her eyes at her husband as they moved to join Draco around the back of the building.

“Am I the only one who's been privy to Lilly’s stories about all of the times she snuck out through the fire escape in the summers?” Harry asked, shooting Daphne an amused grin, “Once to see the Weird Sisters, another time to get her tattoo, and I’m pretty sure one time she went to a rave.”

“I didn’t know any of that, but none of it surprises me,” Daphne admitted with a fond smile.

Draco had his arms crossed over his chest.

“Bet you feel really smug right now, don’t you?”

“Nah, I leave the smugness to you,” Harry said with an overly polite smile, “Lead on, won’t you?”

“Why are you giving him the lead?” Terry asked in an undertone as they all began their ascent.

“Yeah, you always take the lead,” Jason agreed.

Harry shrugged, “Just letting Draco have his moment.”

“Why?” Terry asked curiously.

“What do you know?” Ben asked perceptively.

“Nothing,” Harry answered evasively – jumping up onto the next landing to avoid any further questions.

Terry and Ben shared a look.

“Bullshit,” they said in unison.

“Doesn’t look like the flat of a psycho,” Owen said, looking into the living room window from the fire escape.

“They aren’t psychos,” Jason said irritably, “They are grieving, and people do stupid things when they’re sad.”

“Jace is right,” Draco said, looking through the window himself, “They lost their five-year-old brother to a werewolf. You’ve never lost anyone, have you, Owen?”

Owen shook his head, “No, sir.”

“Good,” Draco said roughly, “I hope you never have to experience that kind of pain because it changes you – it hardens you and unless you can find someone or something to lessen the burden, to take the weight off – it can ruin you.”

Owen bowed his head, “Sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to be so insensitive.”

“You’re young; you’ll learn,” Harry said, giving Owen a small smile and a clap on the back. He turned away from the young man to talk to Daphne.

“Want a leg up?”

Daphne shot him a suggestive look, “Always.”

Harry smirked and hunched down so that she could stand on his shoulders. Once she was comfortably up there, Harry stood up, and Draco gave her a final push onto the roof.

Daphne managed to make clambering onto a roof look graceful which was quite some feat. Once up there, she lay down and called.

“Give me a shout when you’ve got the wards removed.”

Harry looked to Draco who cast a diagnostic charm on the wards and frowned.

“Not as complex as I thought they would be, if I’m honest.”

“She’s a Junior,” Jason said with a shrug, “Not a hardened war vet like you two.”

“Yeah our houses are a bit like fort knox,” Harry admitted, “But we’ve been hunted by Dark Lords and Lordesses.”

“Don’t lump Lucia in there with Voldemort,” Draco scoffed, “She was a revolutionary – not a Dark Lord.”

“Also if we’re being grammatically correct, it would be Dark Lady, not Dark Lordess,” Terry pointed out.

“Who brought the Ravenclaw?” Ben joked.

Terry shot him an irritated look and Owen tried his best to hide his smirk, but he failed, and Terry glared at him too.

“Silence is helpful when you’re trying to listen for the weak point in a ward – did you idiots know that?” Draco asked sarcastically.

Harry smirked as the rest of the team immediately fell silent. Draco could joke around like one of the lads most of the time, but when things got serious, he got pissy, and they knew not to mess with him.

In all fairness – Draco had been right. The wards weren’t incredibly complex, and Harry would have been able to break through them then lend Daphne his magically easily. The reason he had told Draco to do it was to test him - he needed to see how Draco would get on without him.

There was a hiss and a crackle. Then sparks rained down around the boundary of the flat.

“You’re up, Daphne,” Draco called onto the roof.

“Does she do this kind of stuff often?” Owen asked.

Harry nodded, “When she’s not having babies, this is her 9 to 5.”

Jason snorted, “I don’t know how you guys do it mate – four kids and dangerous jobs.”

“Trust me, some days I don’t know how we do it either,” Harry admitted,

“Guys – the box is definitely in the flat,” Daphne said as she shimmied along the rooftop and swung her feet over the edge, “The locator spell puts it somewhere in the lounge.”

Harry helped her down, and she shot him a grateful smile.

“Let’s find it then,” Draco said. He unlocked the window by the fire escape with _alohomora_ then stepped forward to climb through. Before he could, Daphne grabbed him and yanked him back.

Draco made a small noise of disapproval.

“What the hell, Daphne?”

“Are you stupid?” Daphne asked in disbelief, stepping in front of him, “There’s a security curse on the window.”

Draco scoffed, “A security curse? Really? The wards were weak, what makes you think that this girl knows how to put up a security curse?”

“Who said she did it?” Daphne asked, scanning the window with her wand, “Her mother is a Selwyn and regardless of whether they talk or not – I expect she would want to protect her youngest daughter with her living in a neighbourhood like this.”

“Again with the don’t let Lilly hear you calling the neighbourhood where she grew up scummy,” Harry pointed out.

“As soon as Lilly married Neville, she bought her mother a flat in Soho,” Daphne reminded Harry, “She’s not that attached to Poplar, is she?”

Harry shrugged, “Just saying.”

Daphne turned back to the window, which shimmered purple.

“Purple?” Draco said with a frown, “Doesn’t that mean…”

“Disintegration curse,” Daphne said with a nod, “It could also be a neural severing curse though, I’ll need some living flesh to test it out on.”

“I don’t even want to know what a neural severing curse is,” Ben said distastefully.

“Accio rat!” Harry said, holding his wand in the air, “It severs nerves – usually those connecting the brain to the limbs resulting in permanent paralysis.”

“Someone paid more attention in Curse Breaking class than you, Draco,” Jason said pointedly.

“I had a good tutor,” Harry said, shooting Daphne a grin.

“You needed one, you didn’t even know Arithmancy at the start of Auror training,” Daphne shot back.

Before Harry could defend himself, a squealing rat flew through the air into Harry’s hand. Before it could bite him, he threw it through the open window. The moment it crossed through the purple barrier, it disintegrated into several pieces.

Draco’s eyes widened, “That was nearly me.”

“Yes, it was – you can thank me later,” Daphne remarked sarcastically. She swiped her wand down diagonally and spoke in Latin, causing golden letters to appear in front of her.

“This was definitely not put up by a Junior Auror,” Daphne said, her eyes flicking across the letters and numbers, “It’s complex, and disintegration curses are dark - like all purple curses.”

“Might have been put up by her sister,” Harry suggested, “Lux wanted to be a Curse Breaker before she decided to join the Aurors. She was top of the Curse Breaking class.”

“How do you know that?” Jason asked with a frown.

“I’m Assistant Head Auror – I’ve memorised all of your files,” Harry replied matter of factly.

Daphne had been silent as they talked amongst themselves. Draco watched her with interest – it was rare that he saw her breaking a curse, it was usually Bill who took the lead when they helped them out on cases. She was reaching into the air with her wand, swiping some letters away, re-arranging others and cocking her head at the writing every so often. After a few minutes, the golden writing glowed briefly, and when it did so, Daphne raised her wand and uttered the counter-curse. There was a brief flash as if lightning had hit the ground next to them, and then the window was clear.

“Okay,” Daphne said, turning to the team, “Climb through the window but once you are in, do not go through any other doorways or windows until I’ve checked that they are safe.”

Harry nodded, “Lead on Draco.”

Draco put his hand over the threshold warily and sighed in relief when it didn’t disintegrate. He climbed through the open window into the lounge, and the others followed.

Daphne did a quick check of the area and said, “The front door and every window is warded with the same disintegration curse so if we all go out the way we came in, we’ll be fine.”

“Clear of any other booby traps?” Harry asked.

Daphne nodded and looked around, “I can’t get a beacon on the cursed item, which means that wherever it is – it has its own wards.”

“Let’s work on the assumption that Ivy doesn’t know it’s here,” Draco said, looking over at Harry, “That’s your hunch, and I trust you.”

Harry bowed his head, “Thank you.”

“Where would someone stash a hidden item in a muggle flat?” Draco asked as he glanced around the room, “If it were a pureblood home, there would be a secret compartment behind the bookshelf, or a lairds lug in the attic, or a secret torture chamber under the lounge floor.”

Owen looked at Ben in disbelief, “Is he for real?”

“My pureblood house has all of that, so I’m going to say yes,” Ben replied.

Owen frowned, “Well us normal human beings don’t have torture rooms or lairds lugs, whatever the hell that even is.”

“It’s a secret compartment above the drawing-room of a pureblood Manor,” Harry said offhandedly, “A tiny vent above the fireplace which can be accessed by secret stairs from the floor above.”

Daphne raised an eyebrow at Harry.

“Which I have absolutely never used to eavesdrop on your conversations with Lilly,” Harry said sheepishly.

“We’ll talk about that later, _honey_ ,” Daphne quipped.

Owen snorted and looked around the room. He knelt and looked around the floor space.

“If I was hiding something in this room, I would put it underneath the cabinet.”

Everyone looked at the cabinet in question. It was more like an old-style chest of drawers which was adorned with jewellery and photographs of Ivy and her sister. The trunk had four feet and a small gap between it and the floor.

“I’ll humour you,” Draco said. He took a small emerald pebble out of a bowl full of them, and he slid it underneath the chest. The pebble hit a barrier which hissed, shimmered and sent it bouncing back into Draco’s hand.

Draco looked up at Owen, “Well, there’s a warding charm under there.”

“Good shout, Owen,” Jason said, levitating the chest out of the way so that Draco could break the ward comfortably rather than having to lie on his stomach and work with a narrow opening.

“Is that where you hid your porn?” Ben teased.

Owen made a face, “Funny, Benjy.”

Draco ignored them and cast a diagnostic charm on the ward.

“Okay, there’s no way the same person who put the wards up on this flat put the wards up on this thing.”

“What makes you so sure?” Harry asked.

Draco murmured, “ _Ipsum Revelare_ ,” and moved his wand around in an anti-clockwise, circular motion.

Silver writing projected itself into the air – it was a jumble of numbers and letters mostly, but each line was a different type of spell. A ward was, after all, just a combination of security spells, woven together for extra security.

Harry took a step back to take in the full extent of the wards, “At least 50 individual spells.”

“There were four on the flat,” Draco said pointedly.

Daphne knelt next to him and studied the ward.

“At least four of those spells are booby traps, designed to hurt anyone stupid enough to fire at the ward to break it down.”

Jason murmured to Terry, “I was just about to suggest that approach.”

“Of course you were, you’re a Gryffindor,” Terry muttered back dryly.

“It would take hours to unpick the ward, spell by spell,” Harry said with a glance at the clock, “We don’t have hours, we need to get this thing broken before Ivy gets home.”

“I can pick off the booby traps and the offensive wards,” Daphne said, glancing at Draco, “After that, you can bombard it with blasting curses until it breaks down.”

“Or Harry could just blow it up like he did to the wards in that church,” Terry said, looking at his boss.

Harry shook his head, “I only managed that because I was using a very powerful wand which I later destroyed because it was _too_ powerful.”

“Do you know how many spells were woven into the ward on that church?” Draco asked, turning to look at Harry as Daphne got to work on the ward.

Harry shook his head, “No, to be honest. I reckon it’s about the same as what's on that box though.”

“No,” Draco said, “There are around 50 spells in that ward – there were closer to 100 on that church, and you brought it all raining down on our heads with _one_ finite incantatem.”

“With a wand that was too powerful for this earth and was therefore destroyed,” Daphne said dryly, “Power isn’t everything, Draco. Finesse is just as important with some aspects of magic.”

To prove her point, Daphne neatly extracted one of the Latin words from the air and spun her wand around with the tips of her fingers, murmuring a chant of some sort to herself as she did so. When the words began to glow, she held her wand tightly, spoke the counter-curse and blasted the words (and the spell attached to them) away with a small burst of magic.

“Show off,” Harry teased.

Daphne didn’t deny it – she just kept on working until she had destroyed all of the booby trap spells. At that point, she stood up.

“Gryffindors are up – do your thing, blast it rashly until it explodes.”

Harry grinned over at Jason and the two men began to bombard the wards with blasting charms. It gradually weakened, and after ten minutes of this, it shimmered and broke apart like static electricity.

When it did so, an old wooden box came into view in the middle of the floor where the chest had previously sat.

“Don’t go anywhere near it,” Daphne warned as she looked at the box a little more closely, “It’s old, Victorian, I would say.”

“That’s great, but we’re not historians,” Draco said dryly.

“No, Draco but I need to find out everything I can about the box because the history of a cursed object often helps me untangle the curse on it,” Daphne remarked irritably. Draco respected her higher authority on that one, so he nodded and said no more.

“It’s a sewing box,” Daphne said with a frown, “I would say it dates back to the time the first curse was unleashed, so it’s not as old as we thought it was.”

“Who do you think cursed it?” Harry asked.

“I don’t know,” Daphne admitted, “I thought it might have been a family heirloom, but now I’m not so sure. I think it’s more likely that it became evidence in the Jack the Ripper attacks and was taken home by Detective Inspector Montgomery. From then, it probably stayed in the Montgomery family, but a witch or wizard must have owned it before that, and a powerful one too.”

She moved around slightly and was able to make out two sigils on the side of the box, “Those sigils are original, they date back to the same time as the box itself.”

Draco squinted at them, “They aren’t runes.”

Daphne shook her head, “No, they are ancient dark magic sigils. You don’t see them these days, mostly because all of the old grimoires containing traces of them were destroyed by the first liberal Minister for Magic back in the early 20th century.”

“You really paid attention in History of Magic, huh?” Owen asked.

“You have to when you want to go into this line of work,” Daphne said curtly.

She narrowed her eyes and moved a bit closer to the box.

“The sigils on this box relate to what's happening with the magical creatures right now. This one-” she pointed a triangular sigil with a cross beneath it and a sun inside of it, “- means protection from evil and this one-” she gestured to an elaborate symbol that looked like a heart embedded within a cross, “- means protection against evil spirits.”

“Werewolves are regarded as evil; I know that much. So I suppose vampires are regarded as evil spirits?” Harry guessed.

Daphne nodded, “Yes, but that doesn’t explain the attacks, does it? This box should protect the owner from werewolves and vampires – it doesn’t explain why they are all struggling to maintain control and essentially going feral.”

“Daphne,” Harry said, “There’s another sigil on the back, but it’s tiny.”

Daphne frowned and shook her head.

“That’s not a sigil; it’s a dark magic mark. The sigils are ornate and neatly etched on but that mark? It’s crude.”

“What does it mean?” Draco asked.

“Reverse,” Daphne said, looking up at the two men, “It turns this from a box designed to protect against magical creatures into a box that sends out some sort of signal or chemical telling them to attack.”

“It can’t have been added much later than the box was made though, can it?” Owen asked, “You said it was Victorian.”

“I think it must have been modified shortly after it was made,” Daphne mused, “It must have been stolen around 1888 when the spate of attacks that Jack the Ripper got the blame for happened.”

“Can you break it?” Harry asked, “I know you normally like to know the whole family history before you try and break a curse – context helps, doesn’t it?”

“It does, but I might be able to break it without the context,” Daphne said honestly. She took a step back and cast a diagnostic charm on the curse. As it had before, golden lettering appeared before them.

Rather than working directly with the curse as she had with the comparatively simple security curse, Daphne grabbed a notepad and pulled a pencil from behind her ear. She jotted down the curse and began to re-arrange the letters.

The others fell silent as they watched her work it out. She muttered to herself, shook her head, crossed out parts and crumpled up pieces of parchments while she worked – all the while with her tongue clicking against her teeth and a small crinkle of concentration between her eyes. Harry thought she looked adorable, but he would never tell her that because she was a bad-ass curse breaker and she would not appreciate being called adorable, not even by her husband.

Eventually, after what felt like hours, she looked up at Harry.

“I’ve got it.”

“Yeah?” Harry asked, leaning forward eagerly.

Daphne nodded, “It wasn’t that difficult, but it is powerful, so I am going to need your help to break it.”

Harry got to his feet and walked towards her. He held out his hand.

“Take what you need.”

Daphne quirked an eyebrow up at him but said no more. She took his hand in her left and held her wand in her right. Looking Harry directly in the eye, she said, “ _Legilimens_!”

The spell enabled her to see into Harry’s head, and he was already projecting his magical core to make matters easier for her. She took a deep breath and concentrated on connecting her magic with Harry’s – they both knew the instant that it had worked because a cold, tingling sensation ran through their bodies from their heads to their toes.

When Daphne opened her eyes, Draco looked on in surprise at the golden glint in her pupils. She turned away from Harry and pointed her wand at the box then spoke the counter-curse, “ _Ad Statum Restituere Originale!”_

The others all shut or shielded their eyes as a bright yellow light enveloped the box. Daphne blinked hard and cut the connection between herself and Harry. He breathed in sharply and grabbed the mantle of the fireplace.

“You could never have broken that on your own,” Harry said, looking at the sweat that glistened on her brow.

“I know I couldn’t have,” Daphne said. She cast another diagnostic charm to make sure there were no more hidden booby traps then she picked up the small box and examined it more closely. When she flipped it to look at the bottom, she frowned.

“A family crest,” Draco said eagerly, “Is it the Selwyns?”

Daphne shook her head, “No, that’s the Crouch family crest and the Crouch motto, _Acta non Verba_.”

“Deeds not words,” Harry translated.

Daphne nodded and opened up the box.

“Somebody must have stolen it at some point before 1888. That was when they modified it. It’s been out of the family for generations. Somebody must have stolen it from Moriarty - my Great, Great, Great Grandfather.”

Owen frowned, “You were a Crouch?”

“No, dumbass, she was a Greengrass,” Ben replied, “But she’s a pureblood. We’re all linked up to the other families in the sacred 28 somehow.”

Owen’s frown deepened, “You’re all related?”

“Yep, Harry and Daphne are second cousins,” Draco replied smoothly.

“Like you’re much better, you and Hermione are related too,” Harry pointed out, “She’s a Nott.”

“She’s not a Nott, if you ever say that in front of her she will kill you,” Draco remarked, “And Theo and I are barely related anyway.

Daphne wasn’t paying that much attention to them, which worried Harry.

“What is it?”

“Why would the Crouch’s have had a box to ward against magical creatures?” Daphne asked, looking up at Harry.

Harry didn’t quite catch where she was going with that at first.

“I…don’t know?”

Daphne thumbed the family crest thoughtfully.

“Yeah, it’s probably nothing,” she said, but Harry could see through the act – whatever thought had just struck her, it wasn’t nothing.

“Did you put a barrier spell on your hands before you touched that?” Draco asked, “If you didn’t, you could have compromised the evidence.”

“Don’t get your knickers in a twist, I did,” Daphne said. She handed the box over to him, “Check it for fingerprints and all of that, but it is mine by birthright, so when you’re finished with it, I want it back.”

“Don’t worry; you’ll get it back,” Draco promised. He looked up at the clock, “Let’s head back to the office and see what we can find before Ivy comes back.”

Harry nodded and turned to his wife.

“Daph-”

“I get it, you need to stay late,” Daphne said with a small nod, “I’ll see you when I see you.”

“I’m going to need a report on that curse,” Harry said as she headed for the open window, “Sorry babe.”

“I’ll have it on your desk by Monday morning,” Daphne called, jumping out of the window and raising her hand in a gesture of goodbye.

“She knows something about that box,” Draco said quietly, taking a step closer to Harry.

“Could you not breathe down my neck like that?” Harry shuddered, turning to face the blond man, “She does, but I don’t think it’s relevant to the case. I think it’s relevant to her family, so drop it, okay?”

Draco raised his hand in defeat.

“Dropping it, boss,” he said as he headed for the window, “Jason – stay here with Owen and arrest Ivy when she gets home. Terry-”

“Woah, wait a second,” Harry cut in, “Why are you arresting Ivy?”

“We found the box in her flat, Harry,” Draco said in disbelief.

“Yes, and the other two people most likely to have had the box are her sister and her mother,” Harry pointed out, “Who would most definitely have had access to her flat. If you owned something and you were trying to hide it, you would put it somewhere safe in your flat like a drawer. If someone was trying to hide something in your flat, they would put it somewhere obscure where the occupant wouldn’t be able to find it.”

“All the same, we need to bring her in,” Draco said simply, “I won’t have her arrested in the department – I wouldn’t want to embarrass her like that, but we need to find out what she knows, we need to do a Legilimency test on her.”

“Draco, that’s a huge violation of privacy,” Harry said in disbelief, “Can’t we just talk to her? One decent human being to another.”

“That’s not the procedure, Harry,” Draco pointed out.

“Screw procedure,” Harry said sternly, “This is how we make enemies of our own people, Draco. We don’t treat our people like this, doing so creates more people like Lux – Aurors who were kicked to the curb, embarrassed and hate the establishment.”

“I know you think it was the sister, but we can’t ignore the fact that the evidence was found in Ivy’s apartment,” Draco said, “We need to arrest her.”

Harry sighed, “Fine, but we’re not going to ambush her at home. We’ll go back to the department, and I’ll take her into _my_ office and explain to her that we have to arrest her. I’ll make sure she knows that we don’t think it was her because it _wasn’t_.”

Draco turned around to hide the irritation on his face.

“Fine. Harry, you make the arrest. Terry, Ben – start combing that box for fingerprints. The rest of us will be in the observation room when you bring Ivy in for interrogation.”

“Fine,” Harry said, and for the first time since they had started working together, there was an iciness to the air that took them back to their schooldays.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the slow updates. I've been obsessing over a new story I've started writing and didn't get caught up with this one on time. My next work is going to be a dark!Harry, probably Harry x Daphne because all of my fics go that way eventually!!


	56. You Lied to Your Flesh and Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Homicide team finally solve the mysterious magical creature attacks case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:  
> For the Love of a Daughter by Demi Lovato.

Harry felt incredibly nervous when Ivy walked into his office later that afternoon. She closed the door behind her and smiled at him.

“Good afternoon, sir.”

“Good afternoon, Ivy,” Harry said with a forced smile, “I presume you heard that there was a breakthrough in the creature attack case?”

Ivy nodded, “Yes, thank goodness there were no more attacks last night.”

Harry bowed his head in agreement.

“Indeed. The breakthrough happened this afternoon. We found a cursed box and got a curse breaker to remove the curse. A team is currently scouring it for fingerprints.”

Ivy frowned, “Why are you telling me this, sir? I just work in Missing Persons.”

“I know,” Harry said. He looked the younger woman in the eye, “We found the box in your apartment, Ivy.”

Ivy’s frown deepened.

“But…I…uh…why did you look in my apartment?”

“We used the locations of the attacks to triangulate a central point. It led us to a small area in central Poplar,” Harry replied, “A couple of witches and wizards lived there, but you were a person of interest to us because your name popped up in the past when these attacks last happened in 1888. A Muggle by the name of Gerald Montgomery worked on the case.”

Ivy looked up at him sharply.

“And your brother was killed by a werewolf,” Harry said softly, “You have a reason to hate magical creatures.”

Ivy’s eyes widened, “Am I under arrest?”

“Unfortunately I have no choice but to arrest you,” Harry said guiltily, “I don’t believe that you are the person behind this, but because we found the box on your property, protocol dictates that you must be arrested and interrogated under veritaserum.”

Ivy swallowed and nodded.

“We can’t be seen to be giving you special treatment because you’re an Auror,” Harry finished.

Ivy sighed and held out her hands.

“I understand.”

“ _Incarcerous_ ,” Harry murmured, binding her hands together, “I am sorry.”

“You don’t have to keep apologising, sir,” Ivy said, “You’re just doing your job but-”

“I’m not going to force you to walk through the department like this,” Harry promised. He turned away from her and cast a spell on a portrait behind his desk, “We’ll take a shortcut.”

Ivy breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you, sir.”

Harry led her into the portrait, which was a small secret passageway to the outer stairs that barely anyone used. He held her by the arm and guided her through the back corridors until they reached a heavy steel door marked, “Interrogation Chambers”. Harry opened it and led Ivy into the corridor lined with interrogation and holding cells. He opened the door to Interrogation Chamber One and stepped inside with the young Auror.

To make sure that the others were ready on the other side of the two-way glass, Harry gave a single knock. A few seconds later, another knock answered, so he leant against the mirror.

“Take a seat, Ivy.”

Ivy did so. Harry turned to the glass and sent a glare through it at Draco – he could tell the other man was rolling his eyes on the other side. All the same, Harry unlocked the cabinet in the room and took a small vial of veritaserum out of it. He sighed and placed it on the table in front of Ivy.

The young Auror looked at it nervously – she was quite a timid, shy little thing. Lux, her older sister, exuded confidence, and had been in Jason’s words “a bit of a catch”. She had long blonde hair, deep green eyes and a charming smile. But Ivy’s hair was a darker shade of blonde, her features were a little more childish, and her green eyes were wide, giving the permanent impression of innocence.

Harry wanted to apologise again, but he knew Draco would scoff if he did so.

Ivy took a deep breath then drank the veritaserum and made a face – Harry sympathised, it had a bitter aftertaste.

Harry sat down opposite her and asked.

“Ivy – were you aware that there was a cursed box in your apartment?”

Ivy shook her head, “No.”

Harry leant back and contained his smug smile.

“Who had access to your flat?”

Ivy frowned, “My sister – Lux – she helped me move in about a month ago.”

“A month ago?” Harry asked.

Ivy nodded, “Yes, I moved in around the beginning of October, so it’s slightly over a month now, I suppose.”

“And that matches the timing of the attacks starting in Poplar,” Harry said with a frown, “Did anyone else help you move in?”

“No, just Lux,” Ivy answered, “But she wouldn’t do this.”

“I know you don’t want to believe that, Ivy,” Harry said diplomatically, “But did anyone else have access to your apartment?”

Ivy frowned, “I don’t think so.”

A buzzing sounded on the other side of the mirror, and Draco’s voice drifted into the room.

“What about your mother?”

This didn’t phase Ivy – she was an Auror; she knew that others were listening in on the interrogation. She shook her head, “I don’t speak to my mother. I moved into that apartment to get away from her.”

“Would Lux have granted her access to your apartment?” Harry asked, following up Draco’s line of questioning.

“I don’t think so. She knows how I feel about her,” Ivy answered.

Harry nodded, “Alright then. Did you put the wards up on your flat?”

“Uh, Lux helped me with them,” Ivy answered, “She said they didn’t need to be too complex because I lived in a muggle area – they were more muggle-deterrents than anything else.”

“What about the security curses?” Harry asked, “Who placed them?”

“What security curses?” Ivy asked.

“The disintegration curses on your front door and windows,” Harry said, surveying her as he spoke.

“They would allow you, your sister, your mother and anybody you invited in access. But if an intruder tried to enter the property, they would be disintegrated.”

Ivy looked alarmed, “I didn’t do that. I would never put up curses like that.”

“What about your sister? Does she have the capability?” Harry asked.

“Probably, but she wouldn’t do that!” Ivy said defensively.

“I know she’s your sister, Ivy – you want to protect her, and I get that, but innocent people were killed in these attacks,” Harry said calmly.

“If your sister was the only other person with access to the property, then you can understand why we have to take that line of questioning.”

Ivy shook her head, “I know she has said some stupid things, but she wouldn’t do this. She hates werewolves; we both do. Why would we unleash a curse that made them hurt more people? All I want is a cure so that this vicious cycle can end.”

“So tell me who would do a thing like this then,” Harry said, “Because right now all of the evidence is pointing towards you or sister and my gut tells me that it’s not you, but that’s not going to hold up in court – I need evidence.”

Ivy sighed, “My mother hates magical creatures of all sorts. She would screech about them when we were kids. She always warned us to stay away from filthy half-breeds. When Lux told her a story about Hagrid one summer, Mother slapped her and told her that she shouldn’t be associating herself with him. It got worse after Kai died, but she was like that before.”

“She’s a Selwyn, isn’t she?” Harry asked.

Ivy nodded.

“Your grandfather was Silas II Selwyn – the man who notoriously campaigned against werewolf rights,” Harry said, he was analysing her every move as she reacted to his questions.

Ivy’s eyes flashed with guilt; then she cast them downward.

“That’s right.”

“So you believe your mother would do this?” Harry asked.

Ivy nodded, “Yes, but she shouldn’t have access to my flat.”

“What did she do for a career?” Harry asked Ivy.

“Nothing, she was a typical pureblood woman,” Ivy replied, “She didn’t work. My father was a muggle-born and an Auror - Lux, and I both followed in his footsteps.”

“Okay,” Harry said, “I don’t believe this was you, but I do need to check your memory for any alterations or missing memories. Do you consent to that?”

Ivy nodded.

Harry cast legilimency on her and searched through her memories briefly. When he was done, he excused himself and slipped into the observation room where Draco, Jason and Owen were watching the proceedings.

“It wasn’t her,” Harry said.

“You’re right,” Draco agreed, “But I’m not as certain as you are that it was Lux.”

“You think it was the mother?” Harry asked.

Draco nodded, “It seems more likely, admit it. The Selwyns are notorious for their dislike of magical creatures – it got Cadmus killed.”

Harry frowned, “Cadmus Selwyn, the Death Eater?”

“Yeah, Greyback killed him,” Draco said darkly, “Voldemort kept him around because he was a good asset, but he also had a tendency to feed the weak to the wolf.”

“Literally,” Jason frowned.

“Cadmus screwed up and got on the wrong side of Greyback,” Draco said, casting his eyes downward, “So he died, and it wasn’t pretty.”

“You saw it?” Owen asked sharply.

“Draco saw a lot of horrible things during the war, Owen,” Harry cut in to save Draco from having to talk about it.

Draco nodded and shot Harry a grateful look.

“You’re right, it’s far more likely to be the mother, but we need to question Lux before we go there,” Harry said, “There are gaps in Ivy’s memory as if someone has obliviated her and until we’ve ruled out Lux as the person who did that – we can’t arrest the mother.”

Draco looked at the clock.

“Make it quick before she heads home for the day.”

“Switch to observation room two, and I’ll bring Lux in,” Harry said, disappearing before they could discuss it any further.

* * *

Bringing Lux in hadn’t been as easy as getting Ivy in. She was the more confident and subsequently, more mouthy sister, so she had created quite the scene in the Magical Law Enforcement Squad bullpen when Harry dragged her down the corridor to Interrogation Chamber Two.

“You have no bloody right to do this!” Lux spat when Harry pushed her into a chair.

“Lux – your sister, is in the room right next door,” Harry said fiercely, “Do you know why she’s in there?”

Lux’s attitude immediately changed.

“Ivy? Why was Ivy arrested?”

“Because the cursed item that’s been causing magical creatures to turn on their familiars, to tear apart muggles? We found it in _her_ apartment,” Harry said coolly.

Lux shook her head.

“No – Ivy wouldn’t do that. Ivy wants to cure werewolves, she hates them, but she doesn’t believe in killing them.”

“But you do?” Harry quipped.

Lux glared at him.

“I won’t answer any questions without my lawyer present.”

“Fine,” Harry said, putting a communication bracelet into her hand, “One call – call your lawyer.”

He couldn’t fight it, even if he wanted to – Lux didn’t have to answer any questions or consent to veritaserum questioning or legilimency probing without her lawyer present. He should have seen it coming, but it still pissed him off. He shut the door loudly behind him and stalked into the observation room.

Draco sighed and handed him a cup of coffee.

“Thanks,” Harry said grudgingly.

“I’ve got to admit; I saw it coming,” Draco said honestly, “She was a proper Auror, not a Junior like Ivy.”

“She knows the procedure,” Jason admitted, watching his ex-girlfriend through the glass as she spoke to someone via the communication bracelet.

“She’s not going to say anything without her lawyer,” Draco agreed, “And she’s not going to talk to us like Ivy did. Ivy trusts us, and she’s still an Auror. We’ve treated her fairly, but Lux? She doesn’t like us much.”

Jason surveyed Lux through the two-way glass into the interrogation room. She leant back and glanced at the door, anxiously.

“She’s worried about her sister,” Jason said, “Use that.”

“We’ll have to,” Harry said with a sigh. He sipped his coffee, “It’s probably the only way to get her to talk.”

Draco nodded and sipped his coffee.

“Whose going to go in there and play the sympathetic Auror then?”

“Really ought to be you,” Owen said, looking at Harry, “You’re good at that.”

“Not when he thinks the person in there is guilty,” Draco pointed out.

Harry shrugged, “You can do it then.”

At that point, the door to the Interrogation Chamber opened, and Lux’s lawyer stepped in. There was a collective groan throughout the observation room when they realised who that lawyer was.

Owen’s eyes widened, “That’s your wife, isn’t it?”

Draco slammed his coffee mug down on the desk.

“Yes, that’s my bloody wife.”

“Why are you pissed off about that?” Owen asked cluelessly.

“Because the fact Lux’s lawyer is my wife decreases our chances exponentially of getting anything out of her,” Draco said irritably.

“He’s right,” Harry complained, “She’s too damn good.”

“You’re interrogating,” Draco said, “I’m not supposed to, and I’d probably end up getting in a fight with her.”

“Yeah, I might get in a fight with her too,” Harry admitted. He put his coffee cup down and headed into the interrogation room anyway.

“ _You’re_ her lawyer?”

Hermione raised an eyebrow.

“What a polite greeting, Auror Potter.”

Harry wasn’t in the mood for the back and forth.

“Why are you her lawyer? I thought you only defended magical creatures and kids? She’s suspected of turning magical creaturs into monsters; you do realise that don’t you?”

“My client is innocent, Auror Potter,” Hermione said smoothly, “So by defending her, I am in fact on the side of the magical creatures that you just referred to. You have no evidence to back your charges, do you?”

“The cursed box was in her sister's apartment,” Harry said through gritted teeth.

“Her sister's apartment,” Hermione said, “Surely that puts the sister at fault – not Miss Montgomery?”

“Her sister didn’t put it there, Hermione-”

Hermione raised her hand.

“Madam Black.”

In the observation room, Owen choked on his coffee. Jason patted him on the back and raised an eyebrow at Draco.

“You don’t wear the pants in that relationship, do you?”

Draco shook his head and sighed in a rather long-suffering way.

“What do you think?”

Jason snorted in response.

Back in the interrogation room, Harry resisted the urge to glare at Hermione.

“My apologies, Madam Black.”

Hermione smirked but said no more.

“The box was in Ivy’s apartment, but someone had warded it heavily,” Harry continued, “Ivy cannot place a ward containing 50 individual spells nor does she have any memory of doing so.”

“With all due respect, nor could my client,” Hermione cut in, “It would take someone with extraordinary talent to place a ward of that level.”

“That may be so, but I do believe that your client knows who placed that ward and can tell us,” Harry said, switching his attention to Lux, “Ivy told us that you helped her put up the wards on her apartment when she moved in?”

“Yes, I did,” Lux said. She narrowed her eyes at him, “Why is that relevant?”

“Yes, do tell us why that’s relevant, Auror Potter,” Hermione agreed.

“It is relevant because it could well prove your innocence, Lux,” Harry said honestly, “Who physically put up those wards?”

“Ivy did,” Lux answered, “But I told her what wards to put up. She didn’t need extensive wards, just muggle repellent ones mostly.”

Harry nodded, that tied in with Ivy’s story.

“What about the security curses on the windows and the front door? Ivy didn’t know about them.”

Lux frowned at Hermione.

“Did you know about them?” Hermione whispered.

Lux shook her head, and Hermione nudged her head towards Harry.

“Tell him that then.”

“I didn’t know about them either,” Lux said, “What kind of curses?”

“Disintegration curses,” Harry answered, “They would allow access to your sister, yourself, your mother and anyone who your sister willingly invited in.”

“No,” Lux frowned, “That makes no sense. Ivy hated our mother; she would never allow her access to her apartment.”

“Would you allow her access on Ivy’s behalf?” Harry asked.

Lux glared at him.

“Of course, I wouldn’t! Do you have any idea what that woman put us through? She was awful! Ivy got free of her, and I was proud of her. I was never able to just walk away like that. She cut Ivy off, and she didn’t care, she got herself this little place and said she would make her way on her own, but I put up with my mothers nonsense because I’m too materialistic to let her cut me off.”

“You don’t need to say anymore, Lux,” Hermione said, raising her hand.

“Really?” Harry cut in, “Because I think Lux has plenty to say.”

Hermione narrowed her eyes at Harry.

“I don’t know why you’re playing bad cop here, Harry-”

“Auror Potter,” Harry interjected.

Hermione shot him a glare.

Harry smirked in response.

“We both know that Lux did not do this,” Hermione continued, “So why don’t you redirect your questions?”

Harry sighed and looked back to Lux.

“Do you think your mother did this?”

“I don’t know,” Lux admitted.

“You said she was awful. Is she awful enough to plant evidence in her daughter's apartment and let her take the fall for it?” Harry asked simply.

“She was always so hard on Ivy…” Lux sighed, “So yes, I think she’s capable of that.”

“Did she know that Ivy had moved into that apartment?”

Lux’s eyes flashed guiltily.

“I mentioned that Ivy had moved into an apartment in Poplar. Mother made a comment about the kind of scum that would be attracted to her there. She…”

Hermione frowned when Lux trailed off. She moved closer and had a whispered conversation with Lux, which made Harry suspicious. In the end, Hermione nodded, and Lux turned back to Harry.

“She asked if I had at least put the proper enchantments up to make sure that Ivy was safe,” Lux told him.

Harry pushed himself to his feet, “Lux – I need access to your memory.”

“That is a complete violation of my privacy,” Lux objected.

“Auror Potter – can you give us a moment?”

Harry sighed and walked towards the two-way mirror. He glared into at Draco.

On the other side, Draco muttered.

“I don’t know why he’s glaring at me. It’s not my fault; he’s the one who became friends with Hermione bloody Granger well before I married her.”

“You’ve not been able to tame her then?” Jason joked.

“You don’t know Hermione very well, do you?” Draco quipped.

Owen chuckled at that.

“She’s good at what she does,” Jason agreed, “But she’s right, Lux didn’t do this.”

“No, she didn’t,” Draco said, his eyes on Hermione as she had a whispered conversation with Lux.

“As it stands right now, Lux – you or your sister are going to go down for this,” Hermione was saying, “I wholeheartedly believe that neither of you did this and I’m pretty sure that Harry does too, but the evidence is stacking up against you. I will defend you both in court, but I do not want there to be any secrets when we get to that courtroom. If you know anything, any reason why your mother would do this, any hints as to how she did it – you need to tell Harry.”

Lux bit her lip.

“And you need to let him see your memory,” Hermione added, “I know it’s a violation of your privacy, it’s awful to have someone inside your head, but if your mother has tampered with your memories, surely you want to know about it?”

Lux nodded, “I do, but if he finds anything…she’ll go to jail.”

“If she is guilty of what they think she is then I’m sorry to be the one to say it, but she deserves to,” Hermione said softly, “You were an Auror – you know that telling Harry everything and letting him see your memory is the right thing to do.”

Lux looked down.

“Aurors do the right thing, even when it’s hard,” Hermione said gently, “And you are a reasonable person. Yes, you don’t like werewolves very much, but frankly, no one blames you for that. Werewolves, for the most part, are vulnerable. They didn’t ask for this life, but they were given it anyway. Sometimes that makes them angry or bitter, and that can make them lash out but Lux – the werewolf who killed your brother was not like them. He was a foul man, a dark wizard before he was a wolf. He let the animal in him win, not the man – most werewolves fight every day to keep the monster caged and let the man win.”

Lux looked up at her, tearfully, “You sound like you know from experience.”

“I have first-hand experience of how awful Fenrir Greyback was,” Hermione said honestly, “He very nearly did something awful to me, but someone stopped him. I’m sorry that there was no one to stop him from hurting your brother but this? This isn’t going to bring him back; it isn’t going to honour his memory. Protecting your mother, justifying her actions – do you think that’s what he would have wanted?”

Lux shook her head, “No.”

“So do the right thing,” Hermione said supportively, “Be the Auror that you were born to be and do the right thing.”

Lux nodded and cleared her throat. She held her head up high and spoke directly to Harry.

“I’ll tell you everything I know about my mothers attitude to werewolves, and I’ll show you my memory.”

Harry looked over in surprise, but then the knowing smile on Hermione’s face explained everything. He breathed out a sigh of relief and sat down opposite Lux as she began to speak.

In the observation room, Draco smiled proudly.

“And that’s why I love her. She’s an amazing lawyer, she could get anyone off if they were accused of murder, but she doesn’t. Her gut tells her if someone is guilty and if they are, she backs away, but if they are innocent? She’ll fight like hell for them like the Gryffindor she is.”

“You’re whipped,” Owen commented.

Draco shrugged, “It doesn’t matter how many years pass, I still can’t believe that Hermione Granger married me.”

“She saw the good guy in you before you could, I guess,” Jason said.

Draco just nodded because that was the honest truth.

* * *

“Gonna be a late one tonight,” Harry said with a yawn.

Draco nodded, “Have you sent Daphne a Patronus?”

“Yeah, did you talk to Hermione before she left?” Harry asked. He was sitting on the desk inside the observation room while they waited for Jason and Owen to bring in Lux and Ivy’s mother - Helena Montgomery.

“I sent her a memo,” Draco admitted with a sheepish smile, “She kind of scares me when she gets all authoritative.”

Harry snorted, “Only hot in the bedroom, is it?”

Draco shot him a glare.

“Shut up.”

“That’s a yes then,” Harry said, smirking into his coffee, “She’s a control freak in every aspect of life, I can only imagine what that must mean for your sex life.”

Draco crossed his arms and looked at Harry pointedly.

“You’ve slept with her too.”

“Yeah, that was different,” Harry said offhandedly, “She was kind of nervous, and it was always a bit awkward and clunky, you know?”

“You’re a terrible shag, basically,” Draco smirked.

“I was young and inexperienced,” Harry muttered under his breath.

Draco shook his head and looked into the empty interrogation room, “Anyway, I sent her a memo saying that this case would most definitely mean that I would be home pretty late. I doubt she’ll be home particularly early anyway.”

Draco looked at the clock. It had just struck 6 pm.

“She was putting all the paperwork through to get Lux and Ivy out of holding then she was planning on transporting them into the DMLE herself.”

“Legally speaking, they can leave,” Harry reminded Draco, “We just asked them very nicely if they would hang around in the homicide office until we brought their mother in.”

“I think they’ll listen,” Draco said honestly, “I don’t know what Hermione said to Lux, but she got her to spill her guts.”

“She just appealed to her humanity,” Harry said with a smile, “She’s good at that, Hermione.”

Draco hummed thoughtfully.

“She’s meant to be on maternity leave, but she’s taking on more and more cases, and she thinks I don’t notice, but I’m not stupid. Sadie doesn’t mind watching the kids, but it won’t do in the long-run.”

“Why don’t you ask your mother?” Harry asked, sipping his coffee.

“Because she already has her hands full with your four?” Draco returned.

“Three,” Harry corrected, “Teddy’s always at school, so she only has to look after him for a few hours a week. You could drop Ella and Cas off at the manor; I doubt Narcissa would mind. Maybe I should turn the spare bedroom across the hall from the drawing-room into a creche…”

“I can’t tell if you’re taking the piss or not,” Draco said, frowning at his Auror partner.

“Oh, no – I’m serious,” Harry said, looking up at him, “I was just thinking it through. Either way, if your mother is happy to do it, I don’t mind lending my home. I know you have the castle, but Sadie works from home, so it’s probably better to leave her in peace to get her writing done.”

Draco nodded thoughtfully, “I’ll discuss it with Hermione; it’s a damn sight better than having elves watch the children through.”

“I’m pretty sure Hermione would agree with you on that one,” Harry said.

The door behind them clicked open, and Jason dragged a furious woman into the interrogation room.

“Huh,” Harry said, “Helena Montgomery seems like a joy to behold.”

“Indeed,” Draco agreed.

Jason shoved her into a chair, and Owen bound her hands and legs to it. Harry raised an eyebrow at Draco.

“She’s a pureblood, and since you are _so_ good at speaking their language, I think you ought to take this one.”

“You’re practically a pureblood, you manipulative little shit,” Draco muttered, putting his coffee mug down.

Harry shrugged and smirked.

“She’s waiting for you, Draco.”

Draco shot Harry a glare for good measure before leaving the observation room to enter the interrogation room. He dismissed Jason and Owen with a nod, so they joined Harry in the observation room.

“She was a fucking handful,” Owen muttered.

“She’s got me feeling pretty glad I broke up with Lux when I did,” Jason admitted, “Imagine having that for a mother-in-law.”

Harry shrugged, “Ah, could be worse.”

Owen snorted, “ _How_?”

“My mother-in-law is serving 25 years in Azkaban for attempting to kill her husband because she was sleeping with his brother,” Harry retorted calmly.

Owen frowned and opened his mouth. Jason shook his head at the younger Auror, so Owen shut it again. They all focused on the interrogation room as Draco began to speak.

“Mrs Montgomery,” Draco began, “You are charged with multiple counts of first-degree homicide-”

“I will not speak without my lawyer,” Helena said coolly.

Draco turned away from her and rolled his eyes. He opened the door and motioned for someone in the corridor outside to come in – it wasn’t Hermione this time. Instead, it was a tall, greying man who smiled supportively at Helena then took a seat next to her.

Draco had to explain the charges before he could carry on with his investigation, but even when he did start to question her, it became clear that he would get nothing out of her. Between her clear intelligence and the interjection of her lawyer, she did not directly answer a single question and Draco was just beginning to wonder if she was going to get away with this when a knock sounded on the door.

Harry frowned and opened the observation room door just as Draco stepped out of the interrogation room. Terry smirked at them and waved a brown file triumphantly.

“What have you got?” Harry and Draco asked in unison.

“A match,” Terry said with a grin, “We found a partial fingerprint on the box. We checked it against both Lux and Ivy – it didn’t match. I asked Jason to take a sample from Helena when he arrested her, and he memo-ed it straight across to me.”

“And it matches?” Draco asked eagerly.

Jason nodded and handed him the file.

“She handled that box.”

“Yes!” Harry said, fist-pumping the air, “That’s enough evidence to force her to consent to veritaserum testing.”

Draco smirked triumphantly.

“Jason, take Owen and get a judge to sign a search warrant for Helena Montgomery’s home.”

Jason nodded, “Come on, kid,” he said to Owen.

The two of them left, and Harry grinned at Draco.

“Go in there and grill the fuck out of her.”

“Oh, I intend to,” Draco said, the smirk not leaving his face.

When he stalked back into the interrogation room, Draco slammed the folder down in front of Helena. Her face paled when she saw the information and her lawyer's calm expression flickered for a moment too because he knew what it meant – veritaserum testing.

Draco forced the liquid down her throat and looked her dead in the eye.

“Did you plant the cursed box in Ivy Montgomery’s apartment?”

“Yes,” Helena replied.

“Did you open the box and unleash the curse?” Draco asked.

“Yes,” Helena answered.

“Did you do so with the intent to frame your daughter for the crime?”

“Yes.”

“Did you place disintegration security curses on the windows and door of Ivy’s apartment?”

“Yes.”

Harry was on the edge of his seat as he watched Draco.

“Have you altered Ivy’s memory?” Draco asked.

“Yes.”

“Why?” Draco followed up.

“She saw me in her apartment when I placed the box, so I erased her memory,” Helena said – her tone steady and her eyes wild with fear.

“And Lux? Have you altered her memory?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” Draco asked again.

“I used the imperius curse on her and commanded her to steal a file for me,” Helena replied, “I then obliviated her memory of the event.”

“Was the file that you had her steal the charter of arrests from September 1888?”

“Yes.”

“Why did you have her steal it?”

“Because it would implicate me in the crime,” Helena said.

“How so?” Draco asked.

“It contained a record of the arrest of my ancestor – Solomon Selwyn. In September 1888, he was arrested and imprisoned for unleashing a deadly curse,” Helena replied reluctantly.

Draco nodded and closed his file.

“Thank you for being so forthcoming, Helena. You are under arrest for three counts of first-degree homicide and one count of attempted murder.”

Harry hit the desk and grinned.

“Good job, Draco,” he said to himself proudly.

* * *

Helena was transported to a holding cell to await trial. Draco got word from Jason and Owen that a judge had signed the search warrant, so he grabbed Terry and Ben, and they headed out to search the house for any further evidence.

Harry didn’t go with them. Instead, he made his way to the Homicide Office and stepped inside – pleased to see that Lux and Ivy were still waiting there for him.

“Hi guys, thanks very much for waiting while we sorted that out,” Harry said, leaning against the edge of Draco’s desk, “We brought your mother in – Draco questioned her, and I observed. The guys found a fingerprint on the box as you know, and it was a match for your mother.”

“Oh my god,” Ivy breathed.

“That gave us grounds for veritaserum testing,” Harry continued, “And under questioning, she confessed to planting the box in your apartment, Ivy. She also confessed to putting up security charms and obliviating you both.”

“What?” Lux asked in disbelief, “She obliviated us?”

Harry nodded, “Ivy – you found her planting the box in your apartment, so she obliviated you.”

Ivy shook her head, and Harry turned to Lux.

“And Lux. She used the imperius curse on you and made your steal the arrest charter from September 1888 because it showed the arrest of your ancestor, thereby linking her to the current attacks. She then obliviated you to erase your memory of the event.”

“I can’t believe this!” Lux exclaimed, “I knew she was cruel and twisted but to do this to her daughters? She would have had Ivy go to prison for it!”

Harry nodded, “I know it’s a tough blow, so I think you both ought to have a few days leave – fully paid of course. It’s a difficult thing to come to terms with and right now, I think you need to spend some time with each other to do that.”

Lux sighed, “I just don’t get it. Why would someone who lost so much because of a werewolf, unleash a curse to hurt others?”

“I don’t know,” Harry said honestly, “But grief affects people in different ways. I am afraid to say that your mother will most likely spend the rest of her life in Azkaban for her crime.”

“She deserves it,” Ivy said quietly.

“Ivy,” Lux said with a sigh.

“She does, Lux!” Ivy exclaimed, “Two girls died, innocent girls. Yes, they were vampires familiars, and they knew what they were getting into, but vampires don’t hurt their familiars, they love them. Those vampires are going to spend the rest of their very long lives regretting what that curse, what _our_ mother made them do! An innocent little boy became a werewolf, and a girl was brutally murdered by one, all because our mother was angry. I’m sorry to be the one to say it, but she deserves every year that they put on her life sentence!”

“I know you never saw eye to eye, but she was our mother, Ivy,” Lux said.

“Some mother she was,” Ivy retorted, “She stopped being our mother when Father and Kai died. She closed herself off; she only cared about herself – I was 16, Lux! I was grieving too, and it was you who put me back together again, you who got me into the Auror programme, who helped me get my grades up to scratch. That woman they just arrested? She’s not my mother.”

Lux sighed and pulled her sister into a hug.

“You’re sure it’s okay to take some time off, Harry?”

Harry nodded, “I’ll clear it with your supervisor – take tomorrow and the weekend off, and see me in my office on Monday morning.”

Lux frowned, “But I don’t report to you anymore.”

“I know, but I would like to follow up with you,” Harry said gently, “It’s a big shock, and there’s going to be a trial – at which you will both be expected to testify. We’ll be seeing a lot of each other, and I don’t intend just to let you deal with it on your own. We’ll support you as much as you can, that’s how the DMLE _should_ work – we’re supposed to be a family.”

Lux nodded, “Thank you for having faith in me even after what I said.”

Harry smiled, “I believe in second chances, Lux. Take your sister home and take care of her.”

Lux smiled and thanked Harry again then she ushered Ivy out of the department. Harry glanced at the clock and sighed – 7 pm, the kids would all be getting tucked up in their beds by Daphne. He wanted to dash home so that he didn’t miss that, but he knew he couldn’t – there was still too much to do.

So he didn’t go home, he stayed. When the team came back from the search with the missing charter from 1888, he bagged it as evidence and poured over the box. It was bagged too, destined to stay in evidence until Helena’s trial. He helped them with the paperwork; he catalogued the evidence and co-signed the report from the search. He signed the arrest warrants, and by the time he stretched and got up, it was 9 pm.

“Right guys, I’m calling it,” Harry said, “Let’s all head home. You can pick this up in the morning, get a court date from a judge, get a decent defence lawyer in for the Montgomery sisters, I highly recommend Hermione Black.”

“She’ll do it,” Draco assured him.

Harry yawned and looked around the team.

“I’ll have to crack on with my appraisals – they need to be finished by tomorrow, but I’ll be in the office all day if you need me for anything. For now, let’s all go home, get something to eat and get some rest.”

The team greeted those words with appreciative noises, so they all said their goodbyes for the night and headed home.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	57. When It Rains, It Pours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The discovery of the cursed box opens a whole other can of worms that Harry has to try and wrap his head around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title comes from the song:  
> Rainbow by Kacey Musgraves.

Harry had expected Daphne to be in bed or at the very least in the bedroom when he eventually got home after Helena Montgomery’s arrest. It was past 9 pm, and she’d had a busy day too, between breaking a powerful curse in the morning and looking after the kids all afternoon.

He floo-ed into the bedroom to avoid waking the kids up and was surprised to find the bed unmade. Harry left the room and headed downstairs, checking the drawing-room on his way. She wasn’t there either, so the obvious choice was the kitchen or the library.

Harry heard voices the minute his feet hit the entrance hall floor, so he followed them into the library where Daphne looked frantic, and Lilly seemed concerned.

The desk was full of documents – family trees, family charters, birth certificates, death certificates. Daphne’s make-up was smudged, her hair up in a messy bun and she was wearing one of his checked shirts over her t-shirt which she only ever did when she was stressed.

“What’s going on?” Harry asked curiously, looking from the pile of paperwork to the two women.

“The curse is real,” Daphne said quietly.

“What curse?” Harry asked stupidly.

“The Crouch Curse,” An unfamiliar voice replied.

Harry frowned and looked around in surprise. He spotted a portrait that he hadn’t seen before – it was propped up against a bookshelf and depicted a beautiful woman in her mid-40’s. She looked very regal. Her long blonde hair flowed across the ornate robes that she wore, and facially she looked remarkably like Daphne.

Harry pointed at the picture and looked at his wife.

“Who is that?”

“My Grandmother,” Daphne said offhandedly.

“Where did you get that portrait from?” Harry asked.

“Greengrass House,” Daphne replied with a sigh, “I sort of broke in to get it, wasn’t that hard to get past Father’s wards.”

“You broke into your own house?” Harry asked dumbfounded.

“Yes because the curse is real!”

“Okay rewind – what curse are you on about?” Harry asked, exasperation dripping from his voice.

“There’s an old story about a curse that was placed on the Crouch family,” Lilly said before Daphne could freak out, “Aphrodite told Daphne about it when she was a child but Daphne’s grandfather, Hyperion, never believed in it.”

“And you believe it?” Harry asked sceptically.

Daphne looked at him in disbelief.

“Do I, a renowned Curse Breaker, believe that the blood curse stories are true?”

Harry’s eyes widened.

“Blood curse – as in, it’s already in your blood?”

“And our children's,” Daphne said, staring at the papers in front of her, “But right now, I’m more worried about Astoria.”

“Why? What will the curse do to her?” Harry asked sharply.

“If I’m right then it already has done something to her,” Daphne said quietly.

Lilly sighed and picked up a piece of parchment, “It’s in old French, so translating it isn’t easy, but it’s something like, _A plague shall befall on the House of Crouch. When a generations youngest child is of eve, she shalt be afflicted of a curse most terrible_.”

Harry frowned.

“The next part isn’t very clear,” Lilly admitted, “There’s something about reaching her majority which we think means 21 if we go by typical pureblood traditions. Then there’s something about insatiable thirst and a cursed half-life.”

“What does that mean?”

“Lilly just told you, we don’t know!” Daphne snapped.

“Calm down, Daphne,” Lilly said softly.

“I can’t calm down!” Daphne shrieked, “How can I calm down when this is hanging over Astoria’s head? All of this time had passed since she turned 21 so I thought the curse must have been a story, but then that box appeared and why would that box exist if there wasn’t a curse?”

Harry frowned, “What does the box have to do with it?”

“It was created in the 1800s to protect the Crouch family from magical creatures,” Daphne said, her eyes meeting Harry’s.

Daphne took a breath and continued.

“And if Grandma is right – the curse was placed on our family in 1880 by the Selwyn’s when Radcliff Crouch refused to marry Silas I Selwyn’s daughter.”

Harry frowned, “The Ripper attacks were in 1888, so somebody must have stolen the box before then.”

Daphne nodded, “Someone from the Selwyn family, I suspect.”

“Solomon Selwyn,” Harry said, surprising both women, “We got a warrant to search Helena’s home after we arrested her and we found the arrest charter that she stole. In 1888 Solomon Selwyn was arrested for unleashing the curse.”

“What happened to the box then?” Daphne asked with a frown, “How did it end up back in the Selwyn family?”

“The Aurors didn’t recover it in 1888,” Harry said, “They believed that it had been destroyed, but we think the muggle authorities that were after Jack the Ripper seized it.”

Lilly frowned, “Lux is Ivy’s big sister, isn’t she?”

Harry nodded, “Uh yeah. Why?”

“Ivy was a year below us at school,” Lilly said offhandedly, “She was a Slytherin, but she was so timid and cautious, I took pity on her. I helped her through her fifth-year revision. Either way, her father was a Muggle-born and didn’t you tell Neville that the name Montgomery came up which was what made you suspect Lux and Ivy?”

Harry’s eyes widened, “Yes! The Muggle Detective was called Montgomery – so you think the box stayed in the Montgomery family until a muggle-born was born and by chance he married Helena Selwyn?”

“And the box ended up back with the family that stole it all of those years ago,” Lilly said with a nod, “You couldn’t write it, could you?”

Daphne didn’t care much for the history of the box.

“As great as this history lesson is, it doesn’t tell us anything about the curse, does it?”

From her portrait, Aphrodite said, “My darling, the curse was placed on the family by Silas Selwyn because he was embarrassed. Radcliff Crouch married Octavia Yaxley and that put shame on the Selwyn family. They were far superior to the Yaxley family, but Radcliff had chosen love above status, and at that time it was unheard of.”

Everyone looked at Aphrodite’s portrait as she spoke.

“Sitara Selwyn – who was supposed to marry Radcliff, mysteriously disappeared after he broke off the engagement, and she died shortly afterwards. It was thought that she had fallen in love with a vampire who had killed her or taken her as his own.”

Daphne’s frown deepened.

“When Silas cursed the family, he spoke of a thirst and a terrible affliction,” Aphrodite continued, “And he specifically stated that the curse would only affect a generation when a daughter was the youngest child. This was because Sitara was his youngest child, and he had lost her to a vampire.”

“The curse turns someone into a vampire?” Daphne asked hoarsely.

“No, my love – no curse is powerful enough to turn a human into a vampire, only the blood of a vampire itself can do that. However, it could curse them with the vampire affliction – the thirst for human blood,” Aphrodite spoke softly.

“No,” Daphne said, her voice choked, “No, that can’t have happened to Astoria. She would have told me. I’m her sister.”

“And for the past year all she has done is push you away,” Lilly reminded Daphne gently, “She hardly sees the kids, she broke up with Charlie because she didn’t want children. Daphne – it all makes sense.”

Daphne shook her head, unable and unwilling to believe that it was true.

“Calm down for a minute,” Harry cut in, “At the moment, this is still a story. Let’s look at the evidence and treat this like a case, okay? We don’t panic until the evidence tells us that we need to.”

Daphne swallowed a lump in her throat and nodded.

Harry pulled up a chair and sat down next to them at the table. He pulled the largest family tree towards them, murmured a creative little spell and projected it up onto the wall.

“How did you do that?” Lilly asked in amazement.

“Auror training,” Harry replied, studying the family tree, “It makes it a damn sight easier for the whole team to assess a document at the same time.”

“Smart,” Lilly said.

Harry shot her an amused look.

“You don’t have to sound so surprised.”

Lilly smirked in response.

Harry turned back to the family tree, “So Silas allegedly placed the curse on the family way back in 1880.”

Daphne nodded.

“Let’s start with Moriarty Crouch then. He had two children – a son, Radcliff, and a daughter, Astrid,” Harry continued, “Astrid would have been the first to be cursed, but she died in 1918 when she was only 11 – way before her majority.”

Aphrodite interjected, “My darlings, there is a story about Astrid.”

Harry shot Daphne a sceptical look, “Is there?”

Daphne nodded, “She was always described as a strange child, and then one day, she disappeared off the face of the earth. The story goes that Moriarty tried to change the curse but failed, turning his daughter into a Maledictus.”

“A what?” Harry asked.

“A Maledictus,” Lilly said slowly, “It’s an individual who carries a blood curse which will turn them into a beast. It’s the type of curse that the Selwyn’s placed on the family but with the variation that the ‘beast’ is a humanoid one. Rather than having his daughter turn into a vampire, Moriarty Crouch allegedly experimented on her and tried to turn her into a snake - the symbol of Slytherin house.”

Harry’s eyes widened, “A snake?”

Lilly nodded, “A sentient, intelligent snake.”

“Nagini,” Harry said in disbelief.

“That was the story,” Daphne said with a sigh, “But Nagini could have just been an intelligent snake like Dave is. Either way – I think the curse probably did affect Astrid in some way.”

“But we have no proof,” Harry pointed out, “So let’s keep at it. Radcliff Crouch married Octavia Yaxley. They had two children – a son, Caspar, and a daughter, Eris.”

“This is where it gets complicated,” Lilly cut in, “A blood curse like this is usually only active in the main line. So in this case, it would affect both Caspar and Eris, but not Eris’s children.”

Harry’s frown deepened, “Okay.”

“Eris married Silvanus Selwyn,” Lilly said, looking up at the tree, “And they had a daughter, Sofia.”

“She died in childbirth,” Harry guessed, “Sofia was born in 1943, and Eris died in the same year.”

“That’s the assumption most people would make at a glance but look more closely,” Daphne said, “Sofia was born in January and Eris died in June – 3 days after her 21st birthday.”

Harry frowned, “It’s an odd coincidence but-”

“It’s not a coincidence, Harry,” Daphne snapped, thrusting a death certificate in front of him, “Read the cause of death.”

Harry looked down and read aloud.

“ _Self-slaughter._ ”

“She killed herself, three days after her 21st birthday,” Daphne said.

Harry sighed, “That does lend itself to the theory that the curse is real but if it were then the Selwyn’s would know about it so why would they allow their son to marry a Crouch girl? Surely they would know how that would end?”

“Which is probably why they protested the marriage and had Silvanus disowned when he eloped with Eris,” Daphne said dryly.

Harry bit his lip, “Right.”

“The curse then passes down the main line to Caspar’s children,” Daphne pointed out, “Which is where I come in.”

She pointed to the family tree where they could see that Caspar Crouch had married Charis Black.

“Caspar had three children,” Daphne continued, “Bartemius Crouch – you know what happened there, he had a son, and they both died.”

Harry nodded.

“Hyperion Crouch - my Grandfather, and Cassandra Crouch who the curse should have affected,” Daphne said, “She’s the anomaly which I think is because she married a Muggle. I wonder if they had a wizarding ceremony and therefore were blood bonded. Cassandra was a seer so she would have believed in the curse and she knew that Muggle blood would dilute it.”

“Right,” Harry said with a frown, “So she married a muggle but she lived a pretty long life, didn’t she?”

“She was in her 50’s when she died,” Daphne answered, “So for this curse, yes that’s a long life. She had a son, Tertius, who was wizarding and Tertius married a muggle-born. Apparently, Cassandra had an operation to remove her womb after having Tertius.”

“All that tells us is that she believed in the curse, not that it’s real,” Harry cautioned, “Cassandra’s line is where Tracey comes in, isn’t it?”

Lilly nodded, “But it would never have affected Tracey because it only goes down the main line.”

“In this case, it should have passed through Bartemius Crouch, but when his line died out, it jumped to the next in line,” Daphne explained, “My Grandfather and his descendants.”

Harry sighed and looked up at the family tree.

Daphne followed his line of sight.

“Hyperion Crouch married my Grandmother, Aphrodite Cornfoot. My Grandfather never believed in the curse, but my Grandmother did. She told her daughters about it, and I think Aunt Almina believed it, I think it scared her because she knew that she was the one who would be affected.”

“But she wasn’t,” Harry said with a frown, “She died so young.”

“Hang on a minute,” Lilly cut in, “Almina wasn’t the youngest in the generation – Julian was.”

Daphne turned to her Grandmother.

“Grandma, would you explain why Julian doesn’t count in this case?”

Aphrodite bowed her head.

“Regrettably, I had an affair and concealed this from my husband. However, Julian is not a Crouch; therefore, the curse does not apply to him.”

Lilly raised an eyebrow at Daphne.

“What is he then?”

“You don’t want or need to know,” Daphne muttered.

“That scandalous?” Lilly asked.

“Pretty scandalous, yes,” Daphne answered tartly.

Lilly knew to drop the subject, but she and Harry shared a knowing look – they wouldn’t be leaving it there.

“Anyway – Almina was killed when she was 20 years old before she could reach her majority,” Daphne said, clearing her throat, “So the curse continued down the main line, through my mother.”

“To you and Astoria,” Harry said, “But Astoria is fine.”

“We don’t know that,” Daphne said testily, “And this will affect our children too, Thea is the youngest and she’s a girl.”

Harry sighed, “Babe, I know you believe in all this supernatural stuff-”

“Supernatural stuff?” Daphne exclaimed, “Harry -we’re witches and wizards! You just arrested someone for turning werewolves and vampires feral! My sister’s ex-husband has 30 dragons in his back garden!”

“I know,” Harry said, placing his hands on her shoulders, “But this family curse stuff? It’s the stuff of legends, and you know that. I know you’ve worked blood curses before but have you ever worked a family curse?”

Daphne shook her head.

“Just talk to your sister,” Harry suggested, “Tell her about the box, say you’ve been researching the curse, and I’m sure she’ll just laugh and say it’s a lot of nonsense. She would have told you if she had turned into a blood-sucking monster.”

“Would she have?” Daphne shot back, “I don’t feel like I even know her anymore.”

“Just talk to her,” Harry said, “You’ve had a long day, we both have. Let’s go to bed and look at this with fresh eyes in the morning – if you’re still worried, you can head over to Astoria’s flat and talk to her.”

Daphne nodded.

“He’s right, Daph,” Lilly said, “You need some sleep.”

“Fine,” Daphne said, waving her wand and tidying away all of the papers.

She staked out of the room without another word, and Lilly caught Harry’s eye.

“I’m worried about her, Harry.”

“So am I,” Harry said quietly, “I’ve never seen her like this before.”

“I have,” Lilly said darkly, “That first miscarriage she had before you adopted Alastor, you and Neville were out of the country, and she fell apart. She blamed herself, she tore apart every decision she had made, and it took all the willpower I had to convince her that sometimes terrible things just happen – there’s no reason, nothing we can do about them.”

Harry averted his gaze, guiltily, “I’m sorry that I wasn’t there.”

“Don’t be sorry for things that we all put in the past a long time ago,” Lilly said softly, “Just make sure you are _here_ now. Make sure you get her through this because if she’s right…”

“You think she is?” Harry asked sceptically, “You don’t think we would have noticed if Astoria was a vampire?”

“I _have_ noticed,” Lilly said, “I’ve noticed changes, lots of them. Changes in the way she talks to the people she loves, changes in the way she holds herself, changes in her temper. There are a lot of little signs there Harry so yes, I think Daphne might be right.”

Harry sighed and rubbed his eyes.

“I hope you’re wrong.”

“Me too,” Lilly confessed, “I don’t want to be right about this one.”

Harry leant down and kissed her on the cheek.

“Thanks for looking after her till I got home.”

“You’re welcome,” Lilly said. She gave him a small half-smile then walked through the vanishing cabinet to Longbottom House.

* * *

Daphne barely said two words to Harry the following morning, so by the time he headed into the office, he was well and truly worried about what this obsession was going to do to her. He wanted to grab Draco and ask him for his advice, but by the time Harry got in the Homicide Team were in full swing already – they had a lot of work to do in the lead up to Helena’s trial.

Harry had a lot of work to do too – he hadn’t done Elizabeth’s appraisal the previous day in light of everything else that had happened. John had also suspended Rob rather than giving him his review, so Harry decided to start with those two.

“Excited to start your new job on Monday?” Harry asked Elizabeth casually when she walked in.

Elizabeth sat down and quirked an eyebrow up at him.

“Are you?”

“I’m excitedly shitting myself,” Harry replied with a grin.

Elizabeth chuckled, “Did I hear that Kingsley is coming down for the big announcement?”

“I heard that too, so I presume that means its true,” Harry said honestly, “I’ll be inundated with press conferences and meetings for the first week, it’s going to be hellish.”

“The price you pay for power, Harry,” Elizabeth remarked.

“I don’t want it because I want power,” Harry said honestly, “I want change – for the better.”

“That’s why John thinks you’re a better fit than him,” Elizabeth confessed.

“How is John?”

“Oh, he’s great. He just finished reading War and Peace, which is quite some achievement considering that he started it when we started Auror training,” Elizabeth joked.

Harry snorted, “So he’s lazing around feeling sorry for himself?”

“Precisely – it’s pitiful,” Elizabeth said with a roll of her eyes.

Harry chuckled, “I’m bringing Rob in off his suspension today. I’ll do a return to work and his appraisal at the same time. Do you think we need to include any more special conditions in his contract for his furry little problem?”

Elizabeth smiled at his description.

“I think he already has plenty of special conditions, between not working graveyard shifts and getting paid leave around the full moon.”

“So if he asks me for anything else, you think he’s pushing his luck?” Harry checked.

Elizabeth looked at Harry knowingly.

“It’s Rob – of course, he’ll be pushing his luck.”

Harry chuckled at that and got on with Elizabeth’s appraisal. It took longer than most, partly because they were drinking coffee and talking about their new roles as well as doing the review, and partially because they were interrupted three times by members of the Homicide team with questions relating to the Helena Montgomery case.

By the time they got finished, it was mid-morning. Elizabeth headed back to the CPS building to hold the fort there, and Harry called Rob in via a Patronus. He knew it would take him a little while to come in, so Harry dropped into the Homicide Office only to find it virtually empty.

“Where is everyone?” He asked Draco.

“The Juniors are getting a crash course in how to file properly by Terry,” Draco said, without looking up from his paperwork, “And Jason is making sure everything in evidence is locked up securely because I do not want that box getting stolen again.”

“And you’re doing paperwork, go figure,” Harry said with an amused smile.

Draco glanced up, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Harry lied, “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Draco raised an eyebrow, “It doesn’t seem like you came in here to discuss the case.”

“I did come here to check up on you, but something is preying on my mind too,” Harry admitted. He leant against the desk that had once been his, “That box has the Crouch family crest on it, so Daphne thinks its proof that this story about a curse on her family is real.”

Draco looked up sharply, “What does the box have to do with the Crouch family curse?”

“You’ve heard of it too?” Harry asked in surprise, “Did Daphne tell you about it?”

“No, my Father did,” Draco replied. He put his quill down and focused his full attention on Harry, “But I fail to see what a box that protects against vampires and werewolves could have to do with it-” his eyes widened with realisation, “- unless…it’s a creature inheritance curse.”

Harry said nothing but his face must have given him away.

“It turns the victim into a magical beast upon their majority?” Draco asked in disbelief, “That’s ancient magic. There’s no way a British family could come up with that in the 1800s. It must come from an ancient French text.”

Harry made a face, “How did you do that? What are you, Sherlock fricking Holmes?”

Draco shot him an amused look.

“No – just a damn good Auror. Is it true then?”

“Of course it’s not true, but Daphne thinks it is,” Harry said with a shake of his head, “I tried to talk sense into her last night – there’s no such thing as family curses.”

“Yes, there is,” Draco said sternly, “They don’t crop up much anymore because they come from ancient texts, old French, ancient Greek, Roman or Egyptian. All records of the known family curses were destroyed because of the devastation they cause families. But some old wizarding families – dark ones mostly, still have copies of the ancient texts that contain them.”

Harry frowned, “You seriously think it’s real?”

“My father thought it was,” Draco said, “And he wasn’t a naïve man or a believer in divination. The marriage contract that linked me with a Greengrass specifically stated that I was to marry the eldest female unless good reason dictated that I couldn’t – such as she was already married, or she was a squib. The reason for that was that he didn’t want me to marry Astoria because of the curse.”

“I thought she was just superstitious,” Harry admitted, guilt flitting across his features.

“Has she spoken to Astoria about it?” Draco asked.

“She’s doing it today but don’t you think we would have noticed if Astoria had turned into a blood-sucking monster?” Harry asked him dryly.

Draco shrugged, “She’s already the CEO of Greengrass Industries – what’s the difference?”

Harry shot Draco an exasperated look then a knock sounded on the door. Harry turned away from Draco as the door opened, and Rob ducked his head in.

“You summoned me to your lair, my lord?”

Harry snorted, “Morning Rob – chat in the office, yeah?”

“Sure thing,” Rob said, he waved at Draco, “Having fun with that paperwork, pretty boy?”

“Go back to your boring desk job, Wolfie,” Draco retorted.

Harry chuckled and escorted Rob into his office before the argument could get out of hand.

“How are you feeling, Wolfie?” Harry asked, sliding a cup of coffee over to him.

“Tired, but no more than usual after a full moon,” Rob answered honestly, “I’m doing alright.”

Harry nodded and looked at him for a long moment, “No more stupid ideas?”

“No more stupid ideas, don’t worry, kiddo,” Rob said, smiling genuinely at Harry, “I’m all good.”

“Good,” Harry said, “You feeling okay about getting Shep back on Monday?”

“Oh yeah, I’ll have to teach him how to work the Closes like a grunt though,” Rob said with a grin, “He went straight into being a hotshot Vice Auror when I got dumped in the corner with the house-elves.”

Harry chuckled, “I think he’ll surprise us both, you know?”

“Yeah, I reckon he might,” Rob admitted.

“There’s something else I need to talk to you about before we crack on with your appraisal.”

Rob leant back, “Yeah?”

Harry nodded, “I don’t want to say that John did a bad job as Head Auror because he didn’t. He held this place together when it needed that kind of clear leadership, but I do disagree with a few of his decisions.”

“Like his decision to kick me to the curb for publicity?” Rob scoffed.

“I definitely disagree with that which is why I’m ending your suspension,” Harry confessed, “But I also disagree with his decision to strip Lux of her rank. Did you ask him to do that?”

“No,” Rob admitted, “I didn’t want her working for me if that was how she felt. There was no way we could work in the same department if she couldn’t respect my basic rights, let alone my decisions.”

Harry nodded.

“But she was a good Auror – fierce, but in a good way, you know?” Rob said, “She fought for the kids in the Closes. She believed in them, and it’s a rare attitude to see in an Auror – you’ve got to be wired a certain way to work CPS.”

“I agree,” Harry admitted, “Which is why I’m thinking of bringing her back. I would have knocked her back to a Junior and put her in a department like Missing Persons but if she fought hard enough to claw back from it – I wouldn’t hesitate to promote her. She could rise back up the ranks quickly, end up in Organised Crime after a year if she plays her cards right.”

“You’re fairer than Shep,” Rob said with a smile, “Got a real Hufflepuff streak there.”

“Nah, I don’t do it because it’s fair or because I’m the better person,” Harry said, leaning back in his chair, “I do it because one day, I might need a favour from Lux Montgomery and for her to agree, I need her on my side. I do it because I don’t want to isolate our people and turn them into Lucia Cross. I want them all to stay on our side, to be a part of this family.”

“A real cross between a Slytherin and a Gryffindor, aren’t you?” Rob chuckled.

“I _was_ a hat stall,” Harry smirked, “Had to beg the hat not to put me in Slytherin because I didn’t want to end up becoming friends with Draco Malfoy. Look at how that turned out for me.”

Rob barked out a laugh.

“Life can be unexpected sometimes, eh?”

“Oh, it definitely can,” Harry agreed with a chuckle, “So how do you feel about me bringing Lux back and giving her a second chance?”

“I’m fine with it,” Rob said honestly, “I get it – she doesn’t like werewolves, and she’s got good enough reason. Stripping her of her rank for one small mistake, an emotionally charged one at that, seemed a bit harsh to me too.”

“Alright,” Harry said, “I won’t put her in CPS for obvious reasons – she has issues with you and Shep fired her, but I’ll find somewhere for her.”

Rob nodded and called Harry a good kid. Harry joked that come Monday this ‘kid’ would be his boss and without further ado, they got on with his appraisal. It also took longer than most because they kept getting distracted and having conversations about other unrelated things. As such, by the time Rob headed over to CPS, it was lunchtime.

Harry was planning on eating alone in his office because he didn’t want to distract the Homicide team. Still, the moment he stopped concentrating on work, he started worrying about Daphne and the stupid curse, so he knocked on the door of Theo’s office instead.

“One second! I’m experi – **_BOOM_** – menting.”

Harry opened the door and peered in.

“You okay?”

“Yep, I was working under a shield charm,” Theo said, wiping his brow and looking up at Harry, “I’m not a complete idiot.”

“I didn’t say you were,” Harry admitted. He walked into the room and shut the door behind him, “Fancy sharing some pumpkin pasties for lunch?”

Theo grabbed one from the bag instantly.

“You not hungry?”

“Nah, not really,” Harry answered, sitting down heavily in a chair that sat in the corner of the room. It was Draco’s chair because he was the one who spent most of his lunch-breaks in here, “What are you experimenting on?”

“These one-shot wands,” Theo said with a shrug, he took a bite out of his pumpkin pasty, “They were coming along well enough until I tried to load them, but I keep getting the strength of the spell wrong. The last one was too weak – couldn’t even stun a rat.”

Harry snorted.

“This one was too strong, the whole wand exploded,” Theo finished.

“Yeah, I heard that,” Harry admitted with an amused smile.

“Seriously dude, what are you doing in my office?” Theo asked, reaching behind him and starting to brew a pot of coffee, “I’m not complaining – it’s cool to hang out with you some more and all, but you don’t normally come in here sharing your food, lounging on Draco’s chair and all that.”

“I know, I just didn’t want to spend lunch alone today,” Harry said with a sigh, “Homicide is working through lunch trying to tie up all the loose ends with the Montgomery case, and I don’t have Shep in the office at the moment.”

“Yeah, what’s going on with him?” Theo asked.

“Honestly, he’s lounging on his sofa feeling sorry for himself till the big announcement on Monday,” Harry said, looking up at Theo, “He’s stepping down as Head Auror, and I’m taking his place.”

Theo choked on his pumpkin pasty.

“For real?”

“Yeah,” Harry said, “Liz is going to be my assistant head until I get my feet under the table.”

“Right,” Theo said, leaning back in his chair, “And why do you sound miserable about it? Head Auror at 25? Harry, mate – that’s huge.”

“I know, and I am excited,” Harry said honestly, “I’m just worried about Daphne right now. Have you heard of this Crouch family curse?”

Theo frowned and looked up.

“Course I have – my mother was a Crouch, remember? It’s how Daphne and I are related.”

“Yeah, I know that,” Harry said with a wave of his hand, “But I just didn’t know if you knew about it.”

Theo nodded, “My mother was terrified of it affecting her. I never quite understood why it would because I thought Uncle Julian was the youngest, but apparently, he’s not a Crouch.”

“Do you know what he was?” Harry asked, leaning forward in his chair.

Theo raised an eyebrow.

“No, but I guess you do?”

Harry nodded, “Yep, I got it out of Aphrodite’s portrait last night. Julian was a Cornfoot.”

Theo frowned, “Well, obviously because Aphrodite was a Cornfoot, but who was the guy?”

“Stefan Cornfoot,” Harry answered.

“Her _brother_!”

“Her actual full-brother,” Harry said with a shake of his head, “Not half-siblings like the Zabini brothers who were Death Eaters – full brothers.”

“That’s some Game of Thrones shit right there,” Theo agreed, “Explains why Julian was batshit insane though.”

“Inbreeding, yep,” Harry nodded, “Hermione get you into Game of Thrones, did she?”

“She convinced Draco to read it then he said I’d like it since I liked Lord of the Rings,” Theo said with a shrug, “Anyway, like I was saying about the curse. My mother was terrified of it; she was convinced it would turn her into a vampire.”

“Yeah Daphne’s obsessed with it, she thinks its done something to Astoria,” Harry said with a frown, “But I just can’t see it. There are too many instances where nothing happened – like you and Lucia, for instance.”

“What d’you mean? And are you going to eat that?”

Harry shook his head and handed Theo the other pumpkin pasty.

“You and Lucia are siblings are far as the curse is concerned – both Crouch’s through your mother.”

Theo made a face, “I hate to be reminded of that, thanks.”

“But the point is, Lucia was the youngest, and she was a female, so why didn’t the curse affect her?” Harry asked.

Theo’s frown deepened, “Well, it’s an old pureblood curse, isn’t it? Probably ancient French so it will be all about tradition.”

Harry looked at him blankly.

“It will go down the main male line,” Theo said by way of explanation, “And in the absence of a male, probably just down the prominent line. It’s in all of our blood, but it’s only active in Daphne’s line right now. If your whole family died in a freak fire or something, it would pass to my line, and it would affect my children if the youngest were a girl.”

Harry looked up sharply, “Mina is the youngest, isn’t she?”

“By like two minutes, yes,” Theo answered, “But are you planning on dying in a freak fire anytime soon?”

“I hadn’t planned on it, no,” Harry said, shooting Theo an exasperated look.

“Exactly so _if_ it’s true, it will pass down to Daphne’s children,” Theo said.

“My children,” Harry frowned.

Theo nodded, “Draco’s father thought it was true – it was why he was pushing Draco so hard to court Daphne and not fuck it up, he really didn’t want Draco to marry Astoria.”

“Do you believe it?” Harry asked anxiously – his fear of this being real was beginning to grow.

Theo shrugged and sighed.

“Honestly, Harry? There are quite a few suspicious deaths in the family that would lend truth to the idea. I couldn’t say for certain unless I’d seen evidence for myself, but yeah, it might well be true.”

Harry sighed and let his head drop into his hands.

“That’s what I’m afraid of, and I just can’t make sense of any of this, Theo.”

Theo sighed, “Simply put, your youngest child is a girl, so that means the curse will activate in her blood.”

“So if we have another kid and it’s a boy, then that generation is safe?” Harry asked.

Theo shot him a surprised look.

“Yes, but you can’t guarantee it being a boy, can you? What if it’s a girl? Then the curse would still stand, and you’d practically be Weasley’s.”

Harry rolled his eyes.

“Funny.”

“In all seriousness, you need to find out if it’s even true first before you start worrying about it,” Theo said sensibly.

“I’m praying that it’s not,” Harry confessed, “Because if it is true…if Daphne loses Astoria because of this? It will break her heart.”

“Have more faith in the Greengrass sisters,” Theo said with a small smile, “Daphne ran into a burning building to get her baby sister out – there’s not much those two won’t do for each other.”

Harry nodded, but he wished he had as much faith in them as Theo did.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	58. What If You Let Them All in on the Lie?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daphne goes to Astoria’s flat to confront her about the curse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:  
> Homecoming Queen by Kelsea Ballerini.

Daphne took a deep breath to control her racing heart. She wasn’t scared of Astoria, and she would never be, even if the curse did prove to be true. The only thing Daphne was afraid of was losing her sister, and she had been scared of that happening ever since she told her the truth about her parentage years ago.

All the same, Daphne raised her hand and rapped hard on the door.

“Two seconds!” Astoria’s voice called from inside.

Daphne took a step back and waited. She heard her sister's high-heeled shoes click across the floor then she pulled the door open. Astoria frowned when she saw Daphne.

“Daph! What brings you here?”

“Oh, just some family news,” Daphne said with a wave of her hand, “Can I come in?”

Astoria stepped back to allow her sister into the flat.

“This place is nice, I never realised you kept it when you married Charlie,” Daphne mused.

Astoria shrugged, “Insurance, I guess.”

“Which you needed in the end,” Daphne added, eying Astoria suspiciously.

Astoria sighed, “I thought you were here to talk about the family or was that just a ruse to make me feel guilty for divorcing Charlie?”

“It’s not a ruse,” Daphne promised, “But he’s struggling, you have to know that.”

“I don’t talk to him, he wanted a clean break,” Astoria said stiffly.

“Well he’s still living with Bill, much to Lara’s chagrin,” Daphne said as she opened the cupboard and pulled out a mug, “Tea?”

Astoria shook her head.

“Hm, you don’t drink tea anymore?”

Astoria frowned, “Of course I still drink tea, I just don’t want a cup right now.”

Daphne continued to potter around the kitchen, making tea.

“I see.”

“You see what?” Astoria asked irritably, “That I don’t care about what Charlie is doing? He has had plenty of time to find somewhere else to stay. It’s not my fault that he’s so reliant on his brother.”

“But he doesn’t want to because he can’t find anything that’s right,” Daphne cut in, “He’s in therapy, and he’s making a whole bunch of reckless decisions.”

“Why do I care about this?” Astoria asked her sister irritably, “He’s my ex-husband, he’s not my problem anymore. I have more important things to worry about than Charlie and his reckless decisions.”

“Things like?” Daphne asked.

“The business for one,” Astoria said, narrowing her eyes at Daphne, “What are you getting at here?”

“Nothing,” Daphne replied. She paused and put the kettle on to boil, “I came here to tell you about a box that Harry and I found. It was related to the case he was working; you know vampires turning ripper on their familiars and werewolves going feral?”

Astoria paled a little and nodded.

“Yes well it was a cursed box that was doing the damage,” Daphne explained, “It was originally made to protect the family who owned it against those creatures, but then somebody stole it, and its purpose reversed.”

“Why is this family business?” Astoria asked curtly.

“Because the family crest on the underside was ours,” Daphne remarked, “Crouch, that is.”

“So?” Astoria asked irritably, “Are you here because you think I’ll fight you for it? It’s an old box; you can have it.”

“I’ve already claimed it,” Daphne remarked, “I just thought you would be interested to know that it exists. It lends some truth to the theory that the curse is real, don’t you think?”

“No, it just means that someone believed it,” Astoria remarked, “Just like Grandmother and Great Aunt Cassandra did. You heard what Grandfather said, it’s an old story that the Selwyn’s spread because they are nasty little liars.”

Daphne crossed her arms and stared her sister down.

“Uh-huh?”

“Daphne, there is nothing wrong with me,” Astoria said calmly, “I’m not cursed because the curse does not exist. You’re a Curse Breaker; you ought to know that there are no such thing as family curses.”

“Not true,” Daphne said, pouring out the water into her cup of tea, “I haven’t worked a family curse personally but I floo-ed Bill about it this morning, and he said he’d worked two – an old French one and an Egyptian one. The one on our family was in Old French, probably because the Selwyns stole it from a French family then re-used it like the horrid little thieves that they are.”

“This is a fantastic history lesson, but I do actually have an important business meeting to get to so do you mind?” Astoria asked, gesturing to the door.

Daphne raised an eyebrow and brought her cup of tea up to her lips.

“No, Astoria. I’m afraid I can’t go right now because I’m pretty sure of two things – firstly, you’re lying to me. Both about your business meeting and everything else, I took the liberty of checking your schedule with your secretary before I came over here, you see?”

Astoria scowled at this.

“And secondly,” Daphne said, putting her teacup down and bringing her wand to her wrist, “You really don’t want me to cut myself right now, do you?”

Astoria laughed and crossed her arms over her chest.

“You are unreal. You really think I’m a vampire?”

“I didn’t mention that part of the curse and that part wasn’t common knowledge,” Daphne said, her eyes narrowing.

“Grandmother told us both everything she knew about the curse as children,” Astoria said icily, “So don’t try and use some twisted reverse psychology on me, Daphne. I am just as smart as you are; it won’t work.”

“Okay, no reverse psychology,” Daphne agreed, “How about straight facts? I think you’ve been pulling away from everyone in recent years. I think you left Charlie because intimacy was getting difficult. I think that the reason you loved my boys but can’t stand to see my girls makes sense now.”

Astoria swallowed.

“Everyone was so happy for me when I fell pregnant,” Daphne said, locking eyes with her sister, “It was our miracle baby – we really thought we would never have our own and when we adopted Alastor, you were so happy for us. But when I told you I was pregnant? You were vague, and you stopped visiting. When we announced we’d had a girl, you dropped by with a gift and barely stayed for five minutes, you wouldn’t even hold her.”

“I just don’t like babies,” Astoria said weakly.

“You liked Alastor well enough,” Daphne cut in, “But when I fell pregnant again, you kept asking if I thought it was a boy and when we told you we’d had a girl, you didn’t even show your goddamn face for weeks, Astoria.”

Astoria looked away from Daphne guiltily.

“And that’s because you know the curse is real,” Daphne said hotly, “Because it has already affected you and it’s going to affect _my_ daughter. That’s why you can’t stand to look at Thea because you know what’s to come for her.”

“Daphne-”

“So tell me right now if it’s true,” Daphne said simply, “Because if you lie to my face right now and I find out later that it is true, I will _never_ forgive you. If you tell me now then there’s a chance that I can help my girls and I swear, I’ll try just as hard to help you, but you’ve reached your majority so I think we both know that it might be too late for you.”

Astoria said nothing.

“But if you deprive me of a chance to help my children, to save them from this,” Daphne said quietly, “I swear Astoria, I will never be able to look you in the face again.”

“Yes,” Astoria said quietly, looking away from Daphne and taking a step back, “You’re right about all of it – well most of it anyway, I’m not a vampire. I’m not faster, I’m not stronger, I don’t live longer. I just…” she shook her head.

“Have the thirst,” Daphne finished.

Astoria couldn’t bring herself to nod.

“And it’s why you pushed me away, isn’t it? It’s why you divorced Charlie,” Daphne pushed.

“Of course it is,” Astoria said, turning to look at Daphne – tears glistening in her deep blue eyes, “How could I turn around and tell you what I am? How could you ever let me be around your children again? I couldn’t talk to you about it. I couldn’t talk to anyone about it.”

“Astoria, you are my sister!” Daphne barked, “Like hell, I wouldn’t have kept you away from your family. I would have helped you, I mean for Salazar’s sake, you’ve struggled through this alone for three years!”

“Two years,” Astoria corrected, “For some reason, the curse began to manifest itself when I turned 22, not 21. I thought I was safe, I married Charlie, and we were talking about kids then just after my 22nd birthday, it started.”

Daphne watched her warily.

“The hunger?”

Astoria nodded, “It was awful. I felt like I was dying, I lay in bed for days with stomach pains – I had to lie to Charlie and tell him it was a bad bout of food poisoning because if I said anything else, he would have forced me to go to the hospital. I had a hunch about what it was, but it wasn’t confirmed until he came in to check on me one day. He had cut himself on one of the dragon's enclosures, and the hunger just became impossible to resist.”

Daphne stepped forward and put her hand on Astoria’s arm. Her younger sister swallowed and continued.

“So I left, and I broke into a muggle blood-bank. It worked, it kept the hunger at bay and for the first year that kept working. I thought I would be able to live a pretty normal life, so I kept it to myself. I just didn’t want to have kids, Daphne. I didn’t see how I could be what I am and still be a good mother.”

“You said it was okay, to begin with, but it got worse?” Daphne asked.

“This last year, when I started pushing you away and working abroad all of the time to avoid Charlie,” Astoria said hoarsely, “The hunger kept getting worse and one night, I nearly did something awful, so I went to a meeting at the S.T.V.”

“The S.T.V do meetings? What is it like blood-aholics anonymous?” Daphne asked in surprise.

Astoria looked at her in disbelief.

“No. They understand the problem there, and they put you in touch with people who can help you.”

“Like Healers?” Daphne asked.

“No,” Astoria said, casting her gaze down, “People who have what people like me need and are willing to give it.”

“So a blood donor?”

“They’re called sponsors,” Astoria said irritably.

“So it’s exactly like alcoholics anonymous then?”

“Daphne,” Astoria snapped, “I am trying to come clean to you about all of this, but you’re not making it easy!”

“I’m sorry,” Daphne said genuinely, “But I’m trying to wrap my head around this. You’re really telling me that you’re okay? You have a special friend who you feed on, and you live your life like normal?”

“As normal as it can be, given the circumstances,” Astoria said, her eyes flashing with pain for a moment, “But I had to let go of some things, and Charlie was one of them.”

“You didn’t even give him a chance, Tori,” Daphne said softly, “You could have told him.”

“No, I couldn’t have,” Astoria said, her voice strained, “How do you turn around and tell your husband that an ancient curse has caused you to develop a thirst for blood? _Sorry Charlie, but I need to suck your blood to survive now – hope that’s not too kinky for you_.”

Daphne tried very hard to bite back a smirk, but she failed.

“Stop smirking!”

“Sorry,” Daphne said, a chuckle escaping her, “But that was funny.”

A small smile tugged on the corner of Astoria’s lips.

“I’m just picturing his face right now,” Daphne added, another chuckle escaping her lips.

Astoria couldn’t stop the smile from spreading onto her face, and she began to giggle too. That set Daphne off into a full fit of the giggles. The two girls moved closer to each other, and Daphne pulled her sister into a hug.

“It’s going to be okay, Tori,” Daphne promised when she managed to regain her composure. She pulled back but kept hold of her sister's hand.

“You don’t have to struggle through it alone anymore.”

Astoria smiled, “You really don’t care?”

“I don’t care, just like I wouldn’t care if Harry became a werewolf,” Daphne promised, “I love the people who I love, Astoria. You should know that not much else comes into the equation for me. I love them for who they are, not what gender or race they are and vampire or not, you are still my baby sister. I know I haven’t always been as proud of being a Greengrass as you are but our family motto? _Family First_ – that’s what I live by.”

“I’m sorry,” Astoria said, biting back her emotions to stop herself crying, “I’m sorry for not telling you.”

“I’m pissed off that you didn’t, but I also understand,” Daphne said honestly, “The only thing that we do need to talk about is Charlie.”

Astoria shook her head, “That’s over, Daphne.”

“But it ended on false pretences,” Daphne said, “You need to tell him the truth.”

“No,” Astoria said, her eyes flashing, “Please don’t push that one. It’s too late.”

“You miss him Astoria,” Daphne said softly, “It’s plain to see.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Astoria said, “It’s over, and however sad I feel right now, it will pass.”

Daphne didn’t believe that, but she dropped the subject anyway because she felt like she had put her sister through enough emotional turmoil for one afternoon.

* * *

Harry slogged through his day. The fact he hadn’t had a Patronus from Daphne made him feel slightly better, but a niggle in the back of his head told him that even if there were bad news, she wouldn’t bother him while he was at work.

There was plenty to distract Harry, though, mainly because of how Ophelia Wood’s appraisal started.

“Before we start, I have something to tell you,” Ophelia said nervously, “And I’m sorry. I know the timing sucks because you’ve just gotten the department where you want it and all, but I’m pregnant.”

Harry smiled, “Firstly, congratulations and secondly, don’t worry about it. I was actually just thinking about bringing back an Auror who I feel was unfairly dismissed, but I didn’t know where to put her. If you’re telling me this, you must be past the three-month mark?”

Ophelia nodded and handed him a piece of parchment, “Proof of pregnancy from my healer, along with an estimated due date.”

“Perfect,” Harry chirped, “You do know that from the moment you tell me, I have to bench you though, right?”

“I know – no active duty which means I can’t really keep at it in Fraud,” Ophelia said.

“Exactly. I could put you on paperwork duty, but you’d get bored senseless, and it would leave Blanche without a partner. Hence, realistically I need to banish you to the training centre temporarily,” Harry joked.

Ophelia laughed, “Don’t worry, I knew it would happen. What role will you put me in there?”

“How is your Herbology? Katie Brown needs a new Assistant – her last one lost his hand to a venomous tentacula.”

Ophelia scoffed, “Rookie mistake, right? I’d be happy working in the Herbology labs though. I could even help Katie with her research.”

“She’s gonna love you,” Harry said with a grin, “Does Blanche know you’re pregnant?”

“She was one of the first people I told,” Ophelia said with a sheepish smile, “I didn’t even tell Evan until I’d told Blanche.”

Harry smiled, “She’s a good Auror partner and a good friend. Isn’t she?”

“The best – on both fronts,” Ophelia said honestly.

Harry’s smile widened, “Well, I’ll have a chat to her about the girl I think could temporarily work Fraud with her. If you decide to come back to the main department after your maternity leave though, your old job is yours.”

Ophelia nodded, “Do you think I will?”

“I think you’ll just have to wait and see how you feel at the time,” Harry answered, “A lot of women decide to stay at the training centre once they have kids, particularly when those kids are young. Whatever you decide, I’ll back you.”

“Thank you, Harry,” Ophelia breathed, “I was so worried about telling Sheppard.”

Harry felt oddly honoured by that. He shook his head and told her not to worry about it, then he got on with her appraisal and congratulated her one last time before she left.

On her way out, Ophelia called Blanche in, and Harry greeted her with a warm smile too.

“Good afternoon, Blanche.”

“Good afternoon, Harry,” Blanche remarked in the same tone. She settled herself in the chair opposite his desk.

“How do you feel about Ophelia’s happy news?” Harry asked, knowing fine well what her answer would be.

Blanche rolled her eyes, “Babies. Why does everyone have them right now?”

“I remember you gushing to everyone who would listen about Hope,” Harry reminded her with a smirk.

Blanche made a face.

“Hardly. I might have shown her picture around the training centre a few times, but I didn’t gush.”

“Uh-huh,” Harry said, “Are you pissed off about it because you know I’ve got to transfer Fee to the centre or because everyone’s having babies and Ginny won’t sleep with you?”

Blanche crossed her arms.

“Is this my appraisal – really?”

“Your appraisal hasn’t started yet,” Harry remarked as he hid an amused grin.

“Yes, the fact she’s getting transferred sucks,” Blanche admitted, “She’s a good partner, and I’ll miss her.”

“Well, I can sort that part out,” Harry said, “I can’t make Ginny sleep with you though.”

Blanche sighed, “Seriously, though, if we’re off the record?”

“We are,” Harry promised.

“We never had an exclusive relationship. She’s married to my brother, but I love her, and I thought she loved me too,” Blanche shrugged, “It is literally the longest relationship I’ve ever held down, but if she wants to do this whole domestic shit with Blaise then I can sleep with someone else too, right?”

“I’m not answering that question,” Harry remarked.

“Because you’re my boss?”

“Because I don’t want to get on the wrong side of Ginny Weasley,” Harry retorted, And yes I know she’s Ginny Zabini now, but when she’s threatening to bat bogey me she’s still that terrifying girl I used to date a hundred lifetimes ago.”

Blanche sighed and leant back in her chair.

“I have needs, Harry and she’s getting hers fulfilled by my goddamn brother. I swear if Mandy from accounts chats me up one more time this week, I’m going to go there.”

Harry snorted, “Look, just talk to Ginny. I’m sure if you explain the problem, she won’t have a problem with you fulfilling your needs elsewhere. But can we get onto the actual work part of this work chat now?”

“Yeah, I suppose so,” Blanche said grudgingly.

“I have a replacement lined up for Fee,” Harry promised, “I’m thinking of bringing back an Auror who I feel was unfairly dismissed. She’ll be coming back as a Junior which-”

“Which means I’ll have three Juniors to babysit?” Blanche asked irritably, “What am I, a freaking nanny?”

“If you had let me finish,” Harry said pointedly, “Which means you will technically have three Juniors, but she’s not young and inexperienced, she’s been an Auror for years, she just had to have her rank stripped because she was dismissed.”

Blanche sighed, “I’ll consider it. Who are we talking about?”

“Lux Montgomery,” Harry answered.

Blanche bit her lip.

“Is that going to be a problem?” Harry asked.

“Uh, not professionally,” Blanche replied evasively.

Harry raised an eyebrow at her.

“Lux and I are the same age,” Blanche admitted, “And we were both in Slytherin, so we shared a dorm room for seven years.”

“So?” Harry asked bluntly.

“So we have a history, and I’m pretty sexually frustrated right now,” Blanche said matter of factly, “And I mean look at her – she’s hot.”

“Well, this explains your crush on Daphne,” Harry joked.

Blanche shot him an exasperated look.

“Blanche – I don’t give a shit if you sleep with her as long as you get good work done and you keep quiet about it,” Harry said honestly, “She’s coming in for a chat on Monday, and if she’s happy to come back, I’ll pull you two into the duelling room to make sure you can work together. Sound okay?”

“Yep,” Blanche said with a far-off look in her eyes.

“Stop fantasising,” Harry said with a snort of amusement, “We’ve got an appraisal to do.”

“Right,” Blanche said, clearing her throat, “Yep – appraisal?”

Harry chuckled and got on with Blanche’s appraisal. Once they had finished, he brought in her older brother, Blaine, and did his review. When that one got signed and sealed, Harry breathed a sigh of relief – no more appraisals for another year.

That of course, meant that it was time for him to go home and with the mood Daphne had been in when he left that morning, he felt a little apprehensive about that.

* * *

Harry breathed a sigh of relief when he heard laughter from the entrance hall of Potter Manor. That was an encouraging sign. He followed it into the kitchen where Daphne and Astoria were drinking red wine together.

“Evening, ladies,” Harry said with a smile.

“Hey, babe,” Daphne replied, kissing him on the cheek, “We ordered dinner in tonight, I thought the elves could use a night off. There are leftovers in the oven for you.”

“Uh, thanks,” Harry said. He looked around the kitchen, “Where are the kids?”

“Oh, they’re having a sleepover at Longbottom House,” Daphne replied, “Astoria and I decided we were well overdue a catch-up.”

Harry smiled, “Well, I’m glad that your freak-out about Astoria being a blood-sucking monster led to you two bonding, I suppose.”

Daphne and Astoria shared a look, but Harry missed it because he was walking across the kitchen to grab the take-out from the oven.

“Yeah, about that-” Daphne began.

“You’re very suspicious, you purebloods,” Harry said with a wave of his hand, “And I seem to be the only one who didn’t know about this bloody curse. Draco knew about it – it’s the real reason his father wanted him to marry you instead of Astoria, Daphne. Can you believe that?”

“Yes, well-” Daphne tried to say.

“And Theo had heard of it too which makes a bit more sense, his mother being a Crouch and all,” Harry continued, “He said there was a lot of evidence to support it, but it’s obviously a lot of nonsense because look at you, Astoria – there’s nothing wrong with,” he looked up as she sipped from her wine glass.

“What’s in that glass?”

“Not red wine,” Daphne said, looking at Harry in exasperation, “The curse is real.”

Harry paled significantly.

“Uh…what?”

“Astoria drinks blood now,” Daphne said, sipping her wine, “She has a sponsor, she goes to her meetings like a good girl. You two could bond over that.”

Harry frowned and looked between the sisters incredulously.

“Right – firstly, I don’t think you can compare being a vampire to being an alcoholic-”

“Oh, you can, darling,” Astoria remarked, “Addiction is addiction at the end of the day.”

Harry’s frown deepened, “Also – where the hell did you get that blood from?”

“Local hospital,” Daphne said offhandedly, “It’s a temporary measure until Astoria feels comfortable with us meeting her sponsor.”

“What’s her sponsor got to do with it?!”

“Rather a lot,” Astoria replied, “I suppose another name for her would be my familiar.”

“Oh,” Harry said, his eyes widening, “Oh right…oh!”

Astoria shot Daphne an amused look.

“Is he getting slower with age?”

“I think he might be,” Daphne said, cocking her head at her husband.

Harry shook his head, “Okay so the curse is real. Astoria is a vampire, and we’re fine with that, of course, we’re fine with that. We’re a very liberal family.”

Daphne raised an eyebrow at him.

“Why the hell aren’t we panicking about this happening to Thea?” Harry asked, looking directly at Daphne.

“Because we haven’t just been getting drunk all day,” Daphne said, “Well, I have been getting pretty drunk actually because as it turns out, you can’t get drunk on blood.”

Astoria shrugged, “I’ve been interspersing it with wine.”

Harry watched this interaction, completely dumbfounded.

“We broke into Crouch House,” Daphne said, getting to the point.

Harry looked at her in disbelief.

“Crouch House? Your Uncle Julian’s place? Where even is that?”

“In Somerset. Honestly, does he know nothing of our family history?” Astoria tutted.

“Sweetie, he barely knows his own family history,” Daphne retorted.

“You’re a bitch when your drunk,” Harry muttered, pushing himself onto the work surface to survey the two sisters, “And why did you break into Crouch House?”

“You ask so many questions,” Astoria said with a shake of her head, “Do you honestly expect us to answer all of them?”

“Unless you want me to put you in handcuffs then yes,” Harry remarked calmly.

“Whatever you and Daphne do in the bedroom, do keep it between yourselves,” Astoria retorted.

Daphne choked on her wine and Harry raised an eyebrow at Astoria.

“Coming from you? I don’t even want to know what vampires do in the bedroom.”

“First of all, that is offensive,” Astoria said calmly, “Secondly – I am not a vampire. I am merely cursed with the thirst for human blood.”

“A trait associated exclusively with vampires,” Harry pointed out.

“Not exclusively – to name a few other creatures that drink human blood – the Baobhan Sith, a Scottish fairy who sleeps with her victims then drinks their blood. The Lamashtu, a Mesopotamian Demoness who drank the blood of children. The Lamia, a Greek monster which is a cross between a vampire and a succubus.”

“Right, you’re really not helping your case because all of those things sound like they prey on men by sleeping with them and drinking their blood,” Harry pointed out, “But I suppose minus the blood part that’s just a Slytherin woman.”

Daphne threw a curse at him.

“Oi!” Harry objected as he ducked.

“Don’t use magic while drunk, you lunatic.”

“You deserved that,” Astoria said, sipping her blood casually.

“How are we so chilled out about this?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“Because she’s still Astoria, regardless of her new tastes,” Daphne remarked, “Now if you’re done flirting with her-”

“That is categorically not what I was doing,” Harry interjected.

“You just called her a succubus.”

“Uh, I didn’t, and if that’s your idea of flirting then I think I’m actually a little concerned,” Harry cut in.

Astoria chuckled under her breath and Daphne raised an eyebrow at Harry.

“Do you want to know what we found in Crouch House or not?”

“When you illegally broke in, you mean?” Harry quipped.

“What is your problem with that?”

“I’m the Head Auror! I’m sorry that I have a problem with my wife and her vampire sister breaking the law!”

Astoria rolled her eyes at Daphne.

“I don’t know why you married a Gryffindor.”

“You married one too,” Daphne reminded her.

Astoria’s eyes flashed with something akin to guilt, or longing, but she covered it up quickly.

“Since when are you the Head Auror anyway?”

“Not until Monday technically so don’t go telling the press,” Harry said.

Astoria scoffed, “Why would I? It’s not like I need the money.”

“Wow, how incredibly pretentious of you,” Harry said smoothly.

“Again with the flirting,” Daphne said, sipping her wine.

“That’s not flirting!” Harry said in disbelief, “I was insulting her. Why do Slytherins think insults count as flirting?”

Daphne shot Harry an amused look.

Harry frowned, “Why are you looking at me like…” he trailed off and shook his head as it dawned on him.

“No way.”

“Yes, way,” Daphne replied.

“Draco thought I was flirting with him all the way through school?”

Astoria snorted, “Darling, you were flirting with him all the way through school. Anyone who saw the little _scared Potter? You wish_ duel play out could see that.”

“I was not flirting with him!” Harry said firmly, “Potters do not flirt with Malfoys.”

“No, they save that for Greengrass’s apparently,” Daphne said, her eyes sparkling with amusement as she teased her husband.

“If you two are quite done bickering, do you want to know what we found at Crouch Manor?”

“Yes,” Harry said quickly, “I would very much like to move on to that part of the conversation.”

Astoria smiled in amusement, “We found a document about the curse, and there is a section on breaking it.”

Harry looked up eagerly.

“So how do we break it?”

“We don’t know,” Astoria admitted sheepishly.

“Neither of us can read Ancient French, and Lilly can’t either,” Daphne said with a sigh, “As soon as we can find someone who can though, then we’ll know how to lift it.”

“Will that make you stop being a- ” Harry cut himself off when he saw the look Astoria was giving him, “- uh, with you liking blood so much?”

“No,” Astoria answered, “I have already reached my majority; it’s too late for me.”

“Right,” Harry said awkwardly, “You know, the fact you could kill me with a single bite, literally, suddenly makes you less of a cute little 5-foot thing and more of a terrifying thing.”

Astoria looked at him, sceptically.

“You think you would taste good? Do you have any idea how much crap you have in your blood? Basilisk venom, remnants of Horcrux, god, you’d make me throw up.”

Daphne buckled over with laughter at this.

Harry looked moderately offended.

“Harsh,” he muttered.

“The point I was making before you interrupted was that while it is too late for me, if we can lift the curse now, it will help your children,” Astoria said.

Harry glared at Daphne, and she managed to stop cackling.

“Do you think you can lift it?”

“If I can translate the old French then, of course, I can,” Daphne said, forcing a serious expression onto her face, “And I think between the three great minds in that family, the Black-Notts can help.”

“Which one doesn’t have a great mind…Sadie?”

Daphne scoffed, “No, don’t insult Sadie like that. Draco is the dim one; he’s the one who flunked every pureblood etiquette class his mother ever threw at him. Hermione is just brilliant, and Sadie and Theo know everything there is to know about old pureblood traditions and therefore, old pureblood languages.”

“If you two are such perfect purebloods, what’s your excuse?” Harry countered.

“I cannot do languages,” Astoria said, “It’s embarrassing considering how often I work abroad, but I’m lazy, so I rely on translation charms. Now Daphne, what were _you_ doing in the summer before sixth year when we should have been learning ancient French?”

Harry made a face, “Is this the same reason why Draco can’t read ancient French?”

Astoria smirked, “Yes, Harry, it is. While they both should have been at home studying, they were sneaking around the grounds of each other’s houses studying _other_ things.”

Daphne shot Astoria a long-suffering look, “Yes, I am the rebel of the family. I was the one who was sneaking around with my boyfriend, definitely not studying and therefore neither Draco nor I can speak ancient French.”

Harry snorted, “I can’t talk, I wasn’t much better when Ginny and I started dating. Teenage hormones, right?”

Astoria rolled her eyes, “Some of us waited until our seventh year to go there.”

“Not all of us are such good girls, Astoria,” Daphne said with an overly polite smile.

“Okay,” Harry cut in before the sisters could start arguing, “We can talk to the Black-Notts about this tomorrow. We’ll head over to Grimmauld Place, and we’ll have a chat about the curse.”

“But we can’t tell them that Astoria’s a vampire,” Daphne said.

“If we tell them that the curse is real then they’re going to work that out for themselves,” Harry pointed out, “Those aforementioned brilliant minds, remember?”

“Oh,” Daphne realised, “Oh shit. They will, won’t they?”

“How much has she had to drink?” Harry asked Astoria.

“A bottle of wine,” Astoria answered.

Harry rolled his eyes.

“Please tell me this was _after_ you broke into Crouch House.”

“It was, we opened it to celebrate finding a way to lift the curse,” Astoria said matter of factly.

“You still haven’t told me how you broke in,” Harry said, looking between them suspiciously.

“With ease – Uncle Julian is dead, remember? Lucia killed him ages ago, so the house is empty,” Astoria shrugged.

“Firstly – that literally just happened and you are showing no sympathy whatsoever. Is that a vampire thing?” Harry asked, narrowing his eyes at Astoria.

“No, Harry,” Astoria said condescendingly, “It’s an ‘Uncle Julian was a great fucking prick thing’, okay?”

Daphne snorted in amusement.

Harry pointed at his wife.

“You, behave.”

Daphne rolled her eyes.

“Secondly - you broke into your _dead_ Uncles house?”

“Oh stop making it a big, illegal thing-”

“It’s morally wrong above all else!”

Daphne scoffed, “Hardly, he was a dickhead. Anyway, the house is basically ours so I don’t think you can call it breaking and entering.”

“It’s actually the property of the Ministry until the paperwork can all go through or until the investigators find a will,” Harry reminded them, “So you broke into Ministry property which is not only illegal, it’s treason.”

“Semantics,” Daphne said with a roll of her eyes, “The point is that the investigators will find that the house falls into the hands of the eldest living relative. Julian’s parents are dead, so they will look to his siblings – the only surviving one of whom is Mother. She won’t get the house on account of her being in prison for murder like the bitch that she is. That means it will fall into the hands of the eldest siblings, eldest child, which is me.”

“Well done for making that almost make sense,” Harry remarked dryly, “That’s pretty impressive considering how drunk you are.”

“Thank you,” Daphne said proudly.

“Astoria, you’re an irresponsible sister,” Harry added.

“I’m the younger sister, I’m not _supposed_ to be responsible,” Astoria smirked.

Harry shook his head, “I swear dealing with two when you’re on the same side is worse than dealing with feuding Aurors and I’ve had enough of that today as it is. It seems being Head Auror, or acting Head Auror as it stands right now, just makes people want to tell me things.”

He waved his hands around as he ranted.

“Ophelia’s pregnant, which is great news for her, but it means I need to reshuffle the department and give Blanche a new partner. Only Blanche wants to screw her new partner because Ginny won’t sleep with her anymore. I mean I get it, if I were Blanche I’d be pissed off too, and Lux is attractive, you have to admit – but why am I the go-to agony Aunt?”

“Lux?” Astoria cut in, “Montgomery?”

“Yeah, she’s going to become Blanche’s new partner when I re-instate her,” Harry said offhandedly.

“She will find her hard to resist,” Astoria said, shooting Daphne an amused look, “You’re basically her type.”

“She does like blondes,” Daphne admitted.

“Unlike you and your taste for redheaded women,” Astoria cut in.

“Two,” Daphne said in disbelief, “That doesn’t count as a pattern.”

“Three,” Astoria and Harry echoed.

Daphne frowned, “Who was the third one? Oh… Susan. Shit, don’t tell her I forgot her.”

Harry snorted in amusement.

“Does this earth-shattering revelation that you suck blood mean you’re going to come clean to Charlie, Tori?”

Astoria shook her head, “There wouldn’t be any point. It’s over, and with any luck, he’s well on his way to getting over me.”

“Trust me, he isn’t,” Harry interjected.

“Told you,” Daphne said in a sing-song voice, “She doesn’t need a husband anymore though, she has her blood donor.”

“Sponsor!” Astoria snapped.

“Is he hot?” Harry joked.

“She is very agreeable on the eyes,” Astoria said, a smirk slipping onto her face.

“I did not know that you were so…flexible…in that department,” Harry said diplomatically.

“How can she not be? She’s related to me,” Daphne reminded him.

Harry snorted in amusement.

“Is she a muggle?”

“She’s a squib, and she’s a very nice person – I might let you meet her one day if you promise to be on your best behaviour,” Astoria said to both of them.

“So are you like….dating?” Harry asked.

“You’re such a woman,” Daphne muttered.

“You _are_ fond of gossiping and no, we’re not together,” Astoria replied, “It’s just difficult to avoid intimacy with someone you have that sort of relationship with.”

“I can understand that. Drinking someone’s blood _is_ pretty intimate,” Harry mused.

Astoria chuckled, “He’s taking it better than you thought he would.”

“Hmm,” Daphne agreed, “I thought you might have fainted, love.”

“Fainted?” Harry scoffed, “I defeated Lord Voldemort in battle – several times.”

“You also fainted when Teddy fell off his broom and broke his leg last year,” Daphne pointed out.

“His bone was sticking out! It had nothing to do with the blood; there was an actual bone _sticking out_ of his body!” Harry exclaimed.

“Yes well, you were still a pussy about it-”

“Right, that’s enough – you’re going to bed,” Harry commanded.

Daphne raised an eyebrow at him.

“Are you going to escort me there?”

Harry rolled his eyes and looked at Astoria.

“I’m going to throw your state of a sister into bed. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Astoria said honestly, “I really am managing it.”

“I’m sorry, you know?” Harry said, “That breaking the curse won’t help you.”

Astoria shrugged, “These things are meant to test us. I’ll be fine.”

“Just don’t struggle on your own anymore though,” Harry said, “We’re here, and we won’t judge you.”

Astoria smiled and thanked him. Then Daphne started getting woozy. Harry shot Astoria an exasperated look and transported Daphne upstairs to bed where she promptly passed out.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	59. I Can't Do Anything Except Be in Love With You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daphne and Harry try to find a way to break the family curse, and as usual, Sunday Lunch at the Burrow isn’t without its drama.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title comes from the song:  
> Romeo & Juliet by Dire Straits.

“Morning,” Neville said with a tired smile when Harry and Daphne walked into the kitchen of Longbottom House.

“Mummy!”

“Dad!”

Harry was hugged and bombarded with questions about English Kings by Teddy, who was working on that at school. Daphne, on the other hand, had Alastor and Andrea both throw themselves at her at the same time.

“Were you guys good for Aunt Lilly and Uncle Nev?” She asked after she had picked them up.

Andrea nodded, “Yep! Yep!”

“Thea cried,” Alastor said.

Neville chuckled, “Thea did cry, didn’t she? But she’s okay now.”

Thea looked quite happy as she lay on the floor, trying to catch magical butterflies that were hovering and fluttering around her.

“Was she hard work?” Daphne asked guiltily.

Neville shook his head and slid a plate of scrambled egg over to Alastor.

“There you go, buddy.”

“Thanks, Uncle Nev!”

“She was up twice,” Neville replied, “I got up with her and let Lil sleep. The first time she wanted a bottle, and the second time she just wanted a hug which was fine.”

Harry smiled gratefully.

“Thanks so much for having them last night, Nev.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Neville remarked, “You guys want breakfast?”

“Oh god, breakfast would be amazing,” Daphne said, she was already helping herself to coffee, “Where’s Lil?”

“Throwing up,” Neville replied with an amused look.

“That’s what you were doing this morning,” Harry teased, “You’re not pregnant though, just hungover.”

“Ha-ha,” Daphne said dryly. She sipped her coffee and sighed appreciatively, “You make the best coffee in England, Neville.”

“Yeah go on chat him up, he didn’t have to drag your drunk arse to bed last night,” Harry joked under his breath.

Neville snorted, “I thought you were helping Astoria come to terms with her little problem?”

“Hmm,” Harry mused, helping himself to some coffee, “They bonded over breaking and entering, did you hear?”

Daphne rolled her eyes.

“Hardly.”

“You broke into a property that was seized by the Ministry upon the death of your Uncle,” Neville said, flipping some eggs in a pan, “So technically that’s treason.”

“See?” Harry said smugly.

“You Aurors and your moral compasses,” Daphne tutted.

Harry shook his head at Neville when Daphne turned away from him.

“How were the other three terrors?” Harry asked his best friend.

“Good as gold, they went to bed, and we didn’t hear a peep out of them till this morning,” Neville answered, suppressing a yawn, “How is Astoria?”

“She’s fine,” Daphne said, sipping her coffee, “Remarkably fine, all things considered.”

“She was drinking blood out of a wine glass in my kitchen last night, so I guess ‘fine’ depends on your definition of the word,” Harry muttered under his breath.

Neville raised an eyebrow at Harry.

“She’s not hurting anyone, is she?”

“Exactly,” Daphne agreed, “If she says she’s fine, then she’s fine - I trust her.”

“Even though she kept this from you for two years?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“She was scared!” Daphne remarked, “Can you blame her?”

Harry sighed, “No, I’d be terrified if something like that started happening to me.”

“Exactly so stop being judgemental – like you said last night, we’re a very liberal family,” Daphne said matter of factly, “And a very morally grey one too. You and Neville used dark blood magic to become brothers. Lilly and I are very friendly, your adopted Dad is a werewolf, and now my sister drinks blood.”

Neville shot her an amused look.

“You could have just said that she was a vampire.”

“Uh-uh,” Harry said, shaking his head and swallowing his mouthful of coffee, “You can’t call her that, she’s very touchy about the ‘V’ word.”

“Because it’s not technically speaking true,” Daphne added, “She has the affliction, but she’s not faster or stronger, and she doesn’t live longer.”

“So she’s got the shitty parts without the good parts?” Neville scoffed, “That’s hardly fair.”

“It’s called a curse for a reason, Neville,” Daphne pointed out.

Lilly snorted from the doorway at that.

“Is she okay?”

“She’s okay,” Daphne promised, “But I’m going to keep a close eye on her from now on.”

Lilly nodded and stepped into the kitchen. She made a face.

“Oh, Nev – have you been making scrambled eggs?”

“Al asked for them, sorry.”

Lilly went rather green, so Harry quickly cast a spell to remove the odour from the air. The short woman breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Ugh, thanks, Harry.”

“Experience,” Harry chuckled, “You okay?”

“I’m so done with morning sickness,” Lilly groaned, “But hey – at least I’m not a vampire, right?”

“Yeah, you can’t call her that,” Daphne said, “She doesn’t like it.”

Lilly made a face, “Since when do I do what Astoria wants?”

“Since never – you two don’t like each other, do you?” Harry mused.

“She’s never liked me much; I didn’t quite work out why,” Lilly admitted, “Maybe I’m just too rough for her.”

Harry bit back a suggestive comment and got glared at by Lilly anyway.

“What? I didn’t say it!”

“I could hear you thinking it,” Lilly said, hitting him over the head with the prophet.

“And for the record, I still feel sorry for her,” Lilly added, “And for Charlie. I doubt she’ll tell him the truth and I feel like he deserves it.”

“I do too, but it’s her truth to tell, not ours,” Daphne said with a shrug, “If she decides not to tell Charlie, that’s her choice.”

“It’s the wrong choice,” Harry muttered.

“It’s still her choice,” Daphne said firmly.

Harry rolled his eyes as Neville slid a plate of food over to him.

“Thanks, Nev – what are you guys doing today?”

“Sleeping,” Neville replied with a chuckle, “Your daughter is the cutest little sleep-stealer I’ve ever met, but I’m still knackered.”

Lilly laughed too, “I need to head to Diagon for some stuff. What about you guys?”

“We’re going to take this lot over to Grimmauld Place,” Daphne said, gesturing to the kids who were all munching their breakfast, “I’m hoping between them, the Black-Notts can work out how to lift the curse.”

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t,” Lilly said guiltily, “I feel like I should be able to work it out because I can read French, but I can’t read that.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Daphne promised her, “I can read French too, but all I can make out is one word.”

“What word?” Harry asked curiously.

“Family,” Daphne admitted, “It’s repeated above where it says a curse shall fall on the Crouch family, so I know it’s the same word. I can’t make out anything else though.”

“If the Black-Notts can’t work it out, you could always ask Bill?” Lilly suggested.

“He can’t read it either,” Daphne said grudgingly, “The last time he worked a case with an ancient French text, he got Fleur to translate for him.”

“And they haven’t been on the best terms since Bill and Lara became a thing,” Neville finished, “But I bet my right leg that Hermione can translate it.”

“And if she can’t, Sadie will be able to,” Lilly added, grabbing Daphne’s hand, “You’ll work it out.”

Daphne nodded. Suddenly she felt very disinterested in her breakfast, “Yeah, I hope so.”

* * *

When the Potter clan traipsed into Grimmauld Place, they stepped out into a chaotic drawing-room. The noisy room was full of laughter and shrieking, the cause of which was apparent immediately – Theo was playing “ _Twister_ ” with the kids.

“Mum, can we join in?” Teddy asked eagerly.

“Go for it, baby,” Daphne laughed.

Teddy ran straight over to Almina and Charlus who he had always been friendly with. Alastor and Andrea followed their big brothers lead, as they always did and Harry chuckled in amusement and held Thea close to his chest.

“Hey!” Hermione said brightly, “What brings you guys here?”

“Oh just the entertainment,” Daphne joked, gesturing at Theo.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

“He’s impossible, but the kids love it.”

Daphne shook her head and smiled fondly at her cousin.

“We just came by for a chat and a coffee as long as you don’t have any plans?”

“We don’t, and it’s lovely to see you all,” Sadie said with a smile, “Can I steal your adorable baby for a while?”

“Go crazy,” Harry said, handing Thea over to Sadie.

“Oh, you are just the tiniest and cutest!” Sadie said in a ridiculous baby voice.

Hermione chuckled, “I’ll get an elf to make coffee.”

Harry put his arm around Daphne and looked around the drawing-room.

“It does my heart good to see so much fun and laughter in this place, you know?”

“Not the memory that you had of it, is it?”

Harry turned to look at Draco.

“No – it’s not. I remember it filled with dark magic. It was a prison for Sirius…his last prison.”

“Is that why you could never live here?” Draco asked curiously.

Harry nodded, “Too many bad memories. You aren’t going to sell it, are you?”

“No, we’ll keep it as our London residence,” Draco replied. He cracked a smirk, “If Hermione starts to become impossible, I’ll run away here.”

“Don’t joke, that might well happen with her campaign going how it is,” Sadie said under her breath.

“It’s not going badly, is it?” Harry asked in an undertone.

“It’s going fine, she’ll get the bloody seat,” Draco said with a roll of his eyes, “But it’s not going as well as _she_ wanted it to so she thinks she’s failing herself.”

“She’s a chronic over-achiever, get used to it mate,” Harry said bluntly.

“Well said, boss,” Theo teased, he wiped the sweat from his brow, “That’s a damn work out by the way.”

“For an ex-Auror who pushes paper these days, I’m not surprised,” Draco cut in, smirking at Theo.

“Oh, that’s how we’re playing this, huh?” Theo retorted, “This paper pusher is an inventor, thank you very much. Up for an Order of Merlin too.”

Draco raised an eyebrow at Theo, “Need I remind you that I am also up for an order of Merlin? For bravery and _valour,_ Theo.”

Theo took a step closer to Draco, “I could still take you in a duel.”

Draco smirked and took a step closer to Theo, “Like hell you could.”

“Boys, quit flirting,” Sadie said musically, “We have company.”

Draco scoffed, “That wasn’t flirting.”

“Yes, it was,” Daphne smirked, “I was rather reminded of our second year, weren’t you?”

Harry rolled his eyes, “For the last time, you Slytherins are twisted. Insults are not flirting.”

Draco and Theo shared a look and shrugged.

Hermione returned with the tray of coffee and looked at the distance (there wasn’t much of it) between Draco and Theo, “Are you two flirting again?”

“Oh they were just re-enacting the duel from second year with Theo in the role of Harry,” Daphne said with an amused smirk.

Hermione chuckled and did a flawless impression of Draco, “Scared, Potter?”

Daphne grinned and did her best impression of Harry, “You wish.”

“Am I the only one who found that kind of hot?” Theo asked, earning himself a slap around the head from Sadie.

“Yeah, I probably deserved that,” Theo admitted, rubbing his head.

Harry chuckled, “I’ll get you in the duelling room on Tuesday, Theo. We’ll see how rusty you are. With any luck, you might be able to beat one of the Juniors.”

Theo whistled, “Oh, just you wait.”

Hermione shot him an amused look, “You got out of breath fixing the lawnmower yesterday, Theo. Good luck taking anyone in a duel.”

They all had a bit of laugh at Theo’s expense and helped themselves to mugs of coffee. While the kids climbed all over each other and giggled like maniacs, the adults sat down by the fire.

“They don’t quite get the game, do they?” Hermione asked with a smile.

“Ah, they’re having fun – leave them to it,” Theo said with a wave of his hand.

Harry chuckled and turned to his friends.

“We do sort of have an ulterior motive for visiting. The main one being that I have an announcement to make, but most of you know already anyway. As of Monday, I’m Head Auror.”

“You’re right, we all knew,” Hermione said with a proud smile, “But congratulations.”

“Which one of you couldn’t keep it to yourself?” Harry asked, looking between Draco and Theo.

Theo grimaced, “Guilty. I told Sadie last night, and she told Hermione.”

Draco shook his head, “You would make a terrible politician. I’ve known for days, and I kept it to myself.”

“Sorry,” Theo cringed.

Harry laughed, “It’s fine. I just wanted you all to hear it from me before the press runs a huge story on it because they will, whether I want them to or not.”

“And on another note,” Daphne said over the rim of her coffee mug, “Can any of you read ancient French text?”

Hermione frowned, “I could probably pick out certain words if that’s of any help to you?”

“I know a spell which would translate it into a more modern dialectic, but it still wouldn’t match up with modern French,” Sadie added.

“I could probably read it anyway after you translated it, Sade,” Theo finished, “I know most French dialectics.”

Draco shrugged, “I can’t read French.”

“See?” Daphne said to Harry, “I told he was the stupid one.”

“I am not the stupid one!” Draco objected.

“And I know the real reason that neither of you can read French,” Harry pointed out.

Hermione looked between Draco and Daphne.

“Why can neither of them read French? Daphne lived in France for years.”

“I can read basic French,” Daphne admitted, “But I sort of skipped the ancient French class.”

“Yeah, so did I,” Draco said sheepishly.

“Why?” Hermione asked, looking from one to the other, “What were you doing instead?”

“Each other, I suspect,” Sadie said calmly.

Draco choked on his coffee, “Sadie!”

“What? She’s not wrong, is she? We were supposed to learn ancient French before sixth year when you were far more interested in discovering _other_ things,” Theo said, waggling his eyebrows at Draco.

Hermione snorted in amusement. Once upon a time, this revelation would have made her jealous, but she was secure in her relationship with Draco these days.

“So because you were so horny as teenagers, neither of you can read ancient French which as you have just discovered is more of an important skill than you thought it was at 16 years of age?”

“Precisely,” Daphne remarked, “Thank you for your understanding, Hermione.”

Hermione shook her head in amusement.

“And now you’re siblings,” Theo said with a wicked grin.

“Step-siblings!” Draco and Daphne said in unison.

Theo snorted, “Oh come on, ever since your parents got married, you _have_ been acting like siblings.”

“Theo, don’t add fuel to the fire,” Hermione muttered, elbowing Theo painfully in the ribs.

“Ouch,” Theo hissed, “Did I really deserve that, princess?”

“You normally do,” Sadie interjected.

Draco shook his head at their antics.

“What do you want them to translate?”

“This,” Daphne said, holding out an old, fragile piece of parchment.

Theo took it and sat down on the largest sofa. Hermione and Sadie sat on either side of him and had a good look at the document.

“You want us to translate the Crouch Curse?” Theo asked, looking up at her.

“Specifically the bottom section on how to lift it,” Daphne added, knowing fine well what can of worms that would open.

“But…” Sadie looked at her friend, “That means it’s real. You wouldn’t need to break it if it wasn’t.”

“That’s right,” Daphne agreed.

“And if it’s real that means Astoria is…?” Theo left it hanging there.

“A vampire,” Draco finished.

“Afflicted with a thirst for blood – she doesn’t like the term ‘vampire’, it offends her,” Harry said offhandedly.

Theo cursed under his breath.

“Is she okay?”

“She’s managing as best she can,” Daphne said honestly, “She has pushed a lot of people away, and she feels like she has had to sacrifice some things to make it work.”

“Like Charlie,” Hermione said quietly.

“She didn’t tell him, but she thinks she knows how he would react,” Daphne said with a shrug, “We both advised her to tell him the truth but she doesn’t see the point. They are divorced now, it’s over and done with.”

“But Charlie’s still completely in love with her,” Hermione said.

“We know that, and I think Astoria does too, but she doesn’t want to hurt him or be hurt again,” Daphne said honestly, “If she tells him and he rejects her, it might just break her heart beyond repair.”

“I can understand that,” Hermione reasoned, looking back to the document in front of them.

“Lifting the curse won’t help Astoria, will it?” Draco asked, “She’s already turned 21.”

“Yes,” Daphne said with a sigh, “It’s too late for her, but it’s not too late for our children.”

“ _Our_ children?” Draco said.

“Those descended from Crouch’s,” Theo said without looking up from the document, “She means my kids technically, but they’re all _our_ kids, let’s be real.”

Draco looked over the kids who were still having a ball with the twister mat.

“It affects the youngest in the generation though, doesn’t it?”

Harry nodded and looked at Thea, who was burbling away in Sadie’s arms.

“That’s Thea.”

Sadie looked at the little girl in her arms.

“There’s no way we’re letting you turn into a blood-sucking monster, Theodora – we’ll work it out.”

Daphne smiled at her friend.

“You’re the only person who calls her that, you know?”

“I think she should be proud of her namesake,” Sadie said with a warm smile, “He’s pretty great, after all.”

“Yeah, he’s not so bad,” Daphne agreed.

“You’re just saying that because I’m doing something nice for you, aren’t you?” Theo quipped.

“Not entirely,” Daphne replied, she walked around the sofa and wrapped her arms around Theo’s neck, “You’re my favourite cousin.”

“I’m your only cousin,” Theo snorted.

“Exactly,” Daphne added, kissing him on the cheek.

Theo shot her an amused look, “This should be pretty easy to translate, so sit tight, and we’ll tell you what it says.”

“Theo, I love you!” Daphne said gratefully.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fantastic, I know,” Theo said with a wave of his hand, “Hermione – what can you get out of this?”

“This is the sentence we need to translate,” Hermione said, pointing towards the bottom of the page, “I can make out the words ‘family’ and ‘enemy’.”

“Alright, Sade – do your nifty little trick,” Theo said.

Sadie pulled her wand out from behind her ear and did a funny little wand movement with it then spoke softly. The charm lifted the words off the page. They then began to shift and change before their very eyes.

“You are so good with tricky little charms like that,” Harry said in amazement.

“You should have seen her ward our bathroom hideout during the war,” Draco said with a proud smile.

“I’ve never seen magic like it, and she invented it in a couple of weeks,” Theo agreed, shooting his wife an equally proud smile.

Sadie’s spell ended, and she rolled her eyes.

“It wasn’t that brilliant.”

“Yes, it was,” Daphne said, cocking her head at the writing in the air, “That’s not modern French.”

“Nah, it’s a local dialect from around the 18th century,” Theo said as he studied the writing, “It probably originates from Normandy.”

“How can you tell?” Hermione asked, amazed by this.

“Little things – the way the I’s are dotted, the way certain letters intertwine,” Theo said, “My father didn’t like me much so he made me study and to avoid dealing with him, I did.”

“What does it say?” Daphne asked anxiously.

“It’s still difficult to make out, but I would guess something like this… _the family may be free when the enemy indicates his shame_. That last word could be disgrace actually.”

“The enemy? But Silas Selwyn is long dead,” Harry frowned.

Daphne shook her head, “No, in this case, the enemy is the Selwyn family. What that means is that the Selwyn family have to renounce the curse somehow.”

“How?” Harry asked.

“I have no idea, but Bill will,” Daphne said confidently, “And we’ll be seeing him at the Burrow tomorrow.”

“Well, I guess this will have to wait for today then,” Harry said, taking Daphne’s hand, “After a few more years, what’s a day or two longer?”

“I know, especially when Thea has her whole life ahead of her before the curse affects her,” Daphne said with a sad smile, “I’m just scared that there won’t be a way to lift it.”

“Hey,” Draco cut in, moving to kneel in front of her, “You are the one who told me during the war – there is always another way. There’s always a better way, an easier way, a safer way. I couldn’t see that back then but Daph, you were so right – there’s always a way, you just need to find it.”

Daphne nodded tearfully and hugged Draco.

“Aw,” Theo whispered to the women on either side of him, “He’s such a good big brother, isn’t he?”

Sadie and Hermione locked eyes and then in unison; they jammed their elbows into Theo’s ribs.

“Ow! For the love of Merlin, what did I do to deserve that?”

* * *

Harry found having been away for a few weeks; he had missed the Burrow a little. He enjoyed the hectic nature, the loudness – it was always full of life.

The moment the Potter family arrived, Teddy ran off to find Victoire, and like always, his younger siblings followed him.

Bill chuckled, “Those two are going to be lost when he goes to Hogwarts.”

“Don’t start,” Daphne shuddered, “It’s getting closer and closer, and I am not ready to think about that yet.”

“Alright, Mama Bear,” Bill teased.

Daphne punched him in the arm.

“Do you have a few minutes? I actually need to talk to you about something.”

Bill frowned, “That’s ominous.”

“Yeah, it’s not happy news,” Harry admitted.

Bill’s frown turned a bit more anxious.

“Sure, I’ve got a minute – come on outside.”

Harry watched them go and looked across the kitchen – Molly was singing along to the radio while she cooked and Hermione was making everyone coffee and tea.

“Need a hand, Mione?”

“Oh, hey Harry,” Hermione smiled, “Yes, grab a tray, won’t you?”

* * *

“What’s going on?” Bill asked the moment the back door shut behind them.

Daphne took a breath, “It’s quite a long story, and I haven’t told you any of it yet. Please, don’t get offended – I’ve been scared to tell you because you’re the expert on curses and I can’t deal with you telling me there’s not a way to break this one.”

“What curse? Who was cursed?”

“My family,” Daphne answered. She bit her lip and leant against the wall.

“It’s why I wanted to be a Curse Breaker, Bill. When I was a kid, my Grandmother would tell me stories about this ancient curse on the Crouch family. She was a Cornfoot who married into the Crouch family, she was French, and she was a seer. I just completely admired her when I was little. My Grandfather, who actually was a Crouch, always said the curse was a lot of nonsense but I still believed in it, and it fascinated me, so I decided to study Curse Breaking when I left school.”

“So it’s a family curse?” Bill asked anxiously, “Daphne, I don’t want to be the one to say this, but without the original document, a family curse is almost impossible to-”

“I have the original document,” Daphne cut in, “But it’s in old French. I had the Black-Notts translate one part for me, the part about lifting it. But it’s vague.”

“Go on,” Bill said.

“ _The family may be free when the enemy indicates his shame_ ,” Daphne said, “Or disgrace, Theo said that last word could mean either.”

“The enemy,” Bill mused, “If this was a curse placed on your entire family, I could only presume a rival family placed it?”

Daphne nodded, “The Selwyn’s. I took that to mean that the Selwyns have to break the curse, but how?”

“It’s pretty simple, it just means that a member of the Selwyn family – or bloodline because I don’t think there are any Selwyn’s left – has to speak the counter-curse,” Bill explained.

“Clara Cauldwell – Sadie’s sister-in-law, she’s a Selwyn by birth,” Daphne said, “But Bill – how do we find the counter curse? This isn’t like a normal case; there’s no item for us to cast a diagnostic charm on, is there?”

“No, but if it’s a family curse then by definition it’s also a blood curse,” Bill said, “All we need is someone afflicted with the curse. We’ll take a blood sample from them and work on the curse through that.”

Daphne looked at him in disbelief.

“Of course. How didn’t I think of that?”

“Because you’re too wrapped up in this,” Bill said, his eyes scanning hers anxiously, “You’re not afflicted, are you? Please tell me you aren’t.”

“Relax, Bill,” Daphne said, placing her hand on his arm, “I’m fine. If the youngest in a generation is a girl then she’s afflicted so in this case, it’s Astoria. But if we don’t break it, Thea will be next.”

“What kind of curse are we dealing with here?” Bill asked in an undertone, “Premature death? Or is it a petty one like lack of ability to love? Does it have something to do with the reason Astoria pushed Charlie away then handed him divorce papers?”

“Yes, it does,” Daphne replied in a whisper, “It’s a creature inheritance curse. Upon her majority, she became infected with the vampire affliction.”

Bill’s eyes widened, “Oh, fuck. I suddenly feel shit for being such an arsehole to her.”

“You weren’t to know, Bill,” Daphne said, “I’m her sister, and I only just found out. She’s been struggling through this alone for two years.”

“Two years?” Bill frowned, “I thought she was a year younger than you?”

“She is, but the curse started to affect her when she turned 22,” Daphne said with a shrug, “It should have been 21 that’s when we’re classed as reaching our majority, isn’t it?”

Bill nodded, “How old is this curse?”

“Uh, it was placed in the 1800s,” Daphne answered.

“How many generations has it passed through?”

Daphne frowned as she envisioned her family tree in her head and counted, “Five.”

“Any Muggles or Muggle-borns to dilute it in your direct line?” Bill questioned.

Daphne shook her head, “No, the Crouch’s always married into pureblood families like the Travers, the Cornfoots, the Blacks. There is Muggle blood in the extended family, my Great Aunt married one for example but not in my direct line.”

“Right,” Bill said, still frowning, “There’s no way that would dilute the magic enough to cause the curse to manifest a year late.”

“So why did it?” Daphne asked.

“Was Astoria born prematurely?” Bill asked, “Stunted growth as a kid, maybe?”

“She was always small for her age, but as far as I know she wasn’t premature,” Daphne answered.

Bill sighed heavily and looked at his friend.

“I hate to ask this, but is there any chance that her birth certificate is fake?”

Daphne blanched, “Why…why would you fake a birth certificate?”

“We know you and Astoria don’t share a father,” Bill said quietly, “Would your mother fake the birth certificate to cover that up?”

“I don’t know,” Daphne admitted, “And I don’t know how I would find out without going to Azkaban and talking to her which is completely off the cards.”

“It’s not relevant to breaking the curse anyway, it's just a bit strange,” Bill admitted, “Do you think you can get a blood sample from Astoria tonight?”

Daphne nodded, “I’m sure I can.”

“Good. In that case, come into the office at Gringotts tomorrow morning, and we’ll get to work on breaking that curse,” Bill said confidently.

Daphne breathed a sigh of relief and hugged him tightly, “Thank you, Bill.”

* * *

Sunday lunch at the Burrow didn’t go entirely smoothly after Daphne chatted with Bill. They all sat down to eat, and Molly asked, “Ginny, dear, is Blanche working today?”

“No, she’s just not here,” Ginny replied.

“Why’s that then?” Molly prodded.

Ginny bit back an irritated retort.

“We’ve broken up, Mum.”

“What?” Bill objected.

“Yeah, why?” Charlie added.

“Blanche is great,” George agreed.

Ginny bit her lip, “Blaise is right here – can you stop talking about how great Blanche is?”

Blaise shrugged, “I am used to being treated like part of the furniture. I suppose it’s because I don’t say much.”

“But when you do say something, it’s always relevant,” Ginny said, defending her husband and glaring at her mother, “It’s none of your business why we’ve broken up, but we have. She moved out last night, and that’s that.”

“Does this have something to do with you being pregnant again?” George asked his sister.

Harry, knowing fine well why it had ended, kept his mouth shut.

“No, George,” Ginny snapped, “Lately, Blaise and I have reconnected-”

Harry couldn’t help the snort that escaped him, but he hoped that nobody had noticed.

“- so we are going to focus on our marriage and our daughter,” Ginny continued, glaring at Harry, “And Blanche and I have been drifting apart, so we broke things off.”

“Harry knows something,” George said, pointing his fork in Harry’s direction.

“Oh, you do mate,” Ron agreed, “You’ve got a shit poker face on.”

“What do you know?” George added.

Percy rolled his eyes, “Whatever he knows was probably said to him in _confidence._ One Auror to their Assistant Head, he couldn’t tell you even if he wanted to.”

“Thank you, Percy,” Harry said, breathing out a sigh of relief.

Daphne rolled her eyes, “Ginny’s stopped sleeping with her, so she broke up with her. There, now you all know.”

“Daphne!” Ginny shrieked.

“Revenge for outing Lilly and I, Ginevra,” Daphne said calmly.

“Did you tell her that?” Percy asked Harry.

“No, Blanche told me that,” Daphne remarked, “I had to nip over to High Top House last night to borrow a book on Ancient French, and Blanche happened to be there. Don’t blame Harry; he’s an excellent Head Auror.”

“Assistant Head Auror,” Percy corrected.

Harry shot Daphne a wary look, and she had the decency to cringe and mouth, ‘sorry’ at him.

“Yeah, thanks for letting the cat out of the bag there, Daph,” Harry said dryly. He turned back to the Weasley family, “The big announcement is going to be made in the department tomorrow, but John is stepping down, and I am being named as the new Head Auror.”

This took the attention away from Ginny. Everyone congratulated him and hugged him, or clapped him on the back. By the time the furore had died down, nobody had mentioned Blanche to Ginny, and she seemed grateful for that. As a result, they got through dinner relatively peacefully, and once it was over, they all moved into the living room.

It was at this point that Daphne walked over to Ginny and perched on the arm of her chair.

“I’m sorry – that was pretty cruel of me.”

“You’re a Slytherin, its what you do,” Ginny retorted fiercely.

“It used to be what I did,” Daphne agreed, “Lately, I thought I was better than that.”

Ginny shook her head, “They would have found out at some point, but I didn’t want it coming out at the dinner table.”

“Yes, I understand that, and I am sorry,” Daphne said genuinely, “You and Blanche seemed happy.”

“We were, and we weren’t,” Ginny said with a shrug, “At first it was exciting, it got my heart racing, you know?”

“Like our little broom closet encounter back in the war?” Daphne quipped.

Ginny turned around, ready to roll her eyes at Daphne for teasing her. But when she saw the look in Daphne’s eyes, she knew that the blonde woman was serious.

“Exactly like that,” Ginny admitted, “But we had Hope, and she was such a handful. In those first few years, I appreciated all the help I could get, but then Hope started getting older, and Blanche was at work all of the time. We just drifted apart over the years, we stopped being together and just became friends.”

“And you and Blaise?” Daphne asked, nudging her head towards the dark-skinned man.

Ginny smiled, “He made a change. For the first time in our lives, he compromised for his family.”

Daphne raised a curious eyebrow.

“We argued about how much he works and how little Hope sees of him,” Ginny explained, “And the next thing I knew he was coming home and cooking me dinner. He started talking about this new job, a freelance one – he could work from home, take cases as and when he wanted to. He said he would tutor Hope if I wanted him to do that.”

Ginny shook her head, “And I was just completely shocked, but in a good way.”

“So you slept with him and forgot the charm because it had been a while,” Daphne teased.

Ginny chuckled, “Yeah, but these last few weeks…something has changed Daphne. I fell in love with Blaise all over again when I saw him being a father.”

Daphne smiled over at Harry, who was talking to Charlie.

“Yes, that happens,” she admitted.

“Blanche and I had a mutual split, there was no big fight,” Ginny continued, “She’s my best friend, but with things being as they are with Blaise and I now, it started to feel like cheating.”

“I understand that,” Daphne mused, leaning back on the chair, “And I’m happy for you and Blaise by the way – you’re the dark horses, nobody thought you would make it when you had your shotgun wedding but look at you now - you’re doing great.”

“Thanks for the backhanded compliment,” Ginny snorted.

Daphne just chuckled in response.

* * *

“Hey Charlie, how you doing?”

Charlie looked up and forced a smile.

“I’m alright.”

“Yeah?” Harry asked, “Not sleeping with your therapist anymore?”

Charlie’s cheeks flushed, “Yeah,” he said, scratching the back of his neck, “I have sort of being avoiding her since that happened.”

“Can’t walk into the office you shagged her in?” Harry guessed.

“Something like that, yeah,” Charlie admitted, “And what’s the point of therapy anyway? It’s obviously not working. I slept with the young woman who is meant to be helping me _not_ sleep with random people who are younger than me.”

Harry snorted, “When you put it like that, yeah it does seem like a waste of time.”

Charlie sighed, “I am trying to fill the void because right now, it feels like it’s never going to close. I feel like I’m walking around with an open wound that is never going to heal.”

“Heartbreak is a bitch,” Harry agreed.

“If this is what love does to you, I don’t know why people ever fall in love,” Charlie muttered.

“Because most of the time, it’s worth the pain,” Harry stated with a half-smile.

Charlie didn’t look convinced, but he nodded all the same.

“Listen, Charlie – if it will take your mind off of all of this for a while, do you think you could drop by the house tonight and help me expand the snake cabin?” Harry asked.

Charlie perked up a little.

“Yeah, I’m on board with that. Why are you expanding it? Are you getting more?”

“I’ve got more,” Harry said with a chuckle, “You know that new Boa I got that I thought was a male?”

“Female?” Charlie grinned.

“Yep – cue a lot of baby Daves that are going to get big soon,” Harry said.

Charlie laughed, “Yeah, no bother Harry. I’ll head over once the kids are in bed, alright?”

“Sounds good,” Harry agreed.

* * *

The Potter children were exhausted and fell asleep instantly that evening, so Harry shoved his feet into his boots and grabbed a big coat, just as the floo roared to life.

Daphne frowned, “Whose that?”

“Charlie,” Harry replied.

_“Floo Signature: Charles Weasley.”_

“Granted – I asked him to help with the snake cabin expansion,” Harry explained.

Daphne’s eyes widened, and she lowered her voice.

“But Astoria will be here in ten minutes!”

Charlie stepped through the fireplace, and Harry’s eyes shone brightly.

“I have an idea,” he whispered to his wife while Charlie dusted himself down.

Daphne narrowed her eyes at him but said no more. He greeted Charlie eagerly, and the two of them headed outside to the snake cabin. Ten minutes later, a knock sounded on the door, and Astoria walked in. Daphne smiled when she saw her sister – she looked like the Astoria that Daphne remembered, not the CEO she had become.

“Nice to see you dressed down,” Daphne said. Astoria was wearing jeans, high heeled boots and an oversized jumper.

“It’s my day off,” Astoria said with a smile, “You seemed pretty worried when you sent the Patronus. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, really,” Daphne admitted, “I just need to ask you something, and I’m nervous about it.”

“Is this the part when you’ve sobered up and ask me a million in one questions about my affliction?” Astoria quipped as she put the kettle on.

“Well…now that you mention it…”

“Do you want a cup of tea?”

“Oh, in the mood for tea now, are we?” Daphne asked.

“I’ve been with Angela all day; I’m not thirsty for anything else – don’t worry,” Astoria remarked.

Daphne shook her head, “We will have to meet this Angela at some point, you know? I think before thanksgiving dinner, we wouldn’t want to overwhelm the poor girl after all.”

“Are you still going on about this Thanksgiving thing?” Astoria asked in disbelief, “We’re English, Daphne. We don’t do Thanksgiving.”

“Well, I think maybe we should,” Daphne said, throwing a couple of tea bags in her sister's direction, “Theo died this year-”

“No, he didn’t.”

“Theo died, and then it turned out he wasn’t dead, Lucia could have paralysed Neville, Sadie and Theo nearly split up,” Daphne continued, “I could have lost you, and you did lose Charlie. I feel like we all have a lot to be thankful for.”

“We can be thankful without sitting around a table singing kumbaya,” Astoria retorted dryly.

“Kumbaya?” Daphne grinned, “You’ve been to a Thanksgiving dinner before, haven’t you?”

“I’ve spent two Thanksgivings in the states for business so yes – I have been forced to sit through that before,” Astoria agreed. The kettle screeched, and she poured water into the cups, “So you can invite me and Angela if you wish but rest assured – we will not attend.”

Daphne scoffed, “Yes, you will. Now back to those vampire questions – do you have fangs?”

Astoria shot her sister a long-suffering look.

“What?” Daphne asked innocently, “You feed on a human, right? So you can’t just bite into her with a full set of teeth.”

Astoria rolled her eyes, “Yes, I have fangs.”

“Okay – where are they?” Daphne asked.

“They are retractable,” Astoria replied.

“Can you control them, or is it a blood thing?”

“It’s a blood thing – I can fight it when I smell or see blood, but I can’t just make them appear to show you which is what you’re hinting at,” Astoria said dryly.

“If I cut myself, they would come out though,” Daphne pointed out, “And you’ve already said that you’re not hungry.”

“Why would you want to see me like that?” Astoria asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Because I want to understand this, Astoria. I want to understand all of it,” Daphne confessed.

Astoria sighed and said, “Give me your hand.”

Daphne held her hand out, and Astoria murmured a spell most often used when a blood sample had to be given to a Healer. It caused a pin-prick sized wound to appear on the palm of her hand.

Astoria took a breath and squeezed Daphne’s hand, causing a few drops of blood to appear there.

Daphne watched her sister with interest and curiosity, not with fear. The whites of her eyes turned red, she cracked her neck then opened her mouth, and four long, sharp teeth protruded from behind her regular teeth.

Daphne quickly murmured a healing charm and banished the evidence.

Astoria shut her eyes and closed her mouth. When she opened them, they were blue again.

“Scary, isn’t it?”

“It’s disconcerting,” Daphne compromised.

“Imagine how I felt the first time I saw it in a mirror,” Astoria said, picking up her teacup.

“I’m sorry that I wasn’t there,” Daphne said honestly.

Astoria shook her head, “I didn’t _let_ you be there – don’t worry about it. Is this really what you called me here for? A question and answer session?”

“No,” Daphne admitted, “How would you feel about giving me a blood sample? Bill thinks he can break the curse, but he needs a sample of your blood to do so because _it_ carries the curse.”

“Of course I’ll do that,” Astoria said, “But if you don’t mind, I’ll extract it myself, blood being a tricky substance for me right now and all?”

Daphne nodded, “I’ll stand outside, just give me a shout when you’re done,” she said.

Astoria thanked her, so Daphne took her cup of tea and stood on the porch, watching the snake cabin in the distance as Harry and Charlie finished putting up the outer walls – it was well and truly dark now so she imagined they probably wouldn’t do much more than that tonight.

Astoria called her back in, so Daphne tore her eyes away and stepped back into the kitchen.

“There,” Astoria said, handing her a vial.

“Thank you,” Daphne said as she stashed it carefully in her pocket.

“If I can save my niece from this, then I will,” Astoria said softly, “I wouldn’t wish it upon my worst enemy.”

Daphne opened her mouth to comment on how mature that outlook was, but before she could – the backdoor opened.

“We’ll get the internal walls finished tomorrow evening when we’ve got a bit more daylight to work-” Charlie cut himself off when he saw his ex-wife standing in the kitchen, “Astoria.”

Astoria looked at Daphne in disbelief.

“Did you set this up?”

“No, I swear I didn’t!” Daphne said, and that was the truth, “You know why I invited you over, and I didn’t know that Charlie was going to be here until he arrived. You know Harry, he doesn’t tell me anything.”

“Sorry,” Harry said sheepishly, “But since you’re both here, maybe you should you know, talk?”

“About what?” Charlie scoffed, “There’s nothing to talk about. That’s what you do before you get divorced.”

“And what if that divorce was on false pretences?” Astoria cut in boldly.

Charlie frowned and looked over at her.

“What do you mean?”

Astoria looked at Daphne.

“I can’t say it.”

Daphne nodded proudly at her sister.

“There is a curse on our family, the Crouch family that is. Astoria and I are descended from it through our mother.”

Charlie frowned, “What kind of curse?”

“The kind that only affects the youngest child in a generation if she is a female,” Daphne answered, “Astoria is both the youngest and a woman, so she was afflicted with the curse. It started two years ago, and it got unbearable a year ago.”

“When you started pushing me away,” Charlie realised, looking Astoria in the eye, “How bad is it? Is it slowly killing you? Is that why you pushed me away?”

Astoria shook her head, “I pushed you away because I didn’t want to hurt you, and because I knew you wouldn’t stay if you knew the truth.”

Charlie didn’t take his eyes away from hers.

“Well, you didn’t give me that chance. Did you?”

Daphne grabbed Harry’s hand.

“We’re going to disappear upstairs and let you two talk privately.”

“Are we?” Harry asked stupidly.

“Yes,” Daphne said, yanking on Harry’s hand to pull him out of the kitchen, “We are.”

Astoria took a deep breath, “I am cursed with the vampire affliction.”

Charlie frowned, “A creature inheritance curse?”

“Of sorts,” Astoria answered, “It is a weaker form of that. I’m not a vampire – I don’t have the abilities that they do or the long life. I am merely cursed with the…”

“Thirst,” Charlie answered for her.

Astoria nodded stiffly.

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” Charlie asked quietly, “Why lie and hand me divorce papers?”

Astoria looked at him, incredulously.

“Seriously? What was I going to do, turn around and say, _Sorry Charlie but I’m cursed, and I need to drink human blood now_? Like you would have stayed after that!”

Charlie scoffed and shook his head.

“You know, you’ve always done this! Always, Astoria! From the minute we got together, even after we were married – you’ve always underestimated how much I love you!”

Astoria looked at him for a long moment.

“Don’t you mean _loved_?”

“No, I mean _love_ ,” Charlie said irritably, “Because maybe I should flinch when you tell me you’re basically a vampire now. Maybe I should run and hide, but I don’t feel like that. All I feel is guilt and shame.”

Astoria frowned, “Why do _you_ feel guilty?”

“Because for you to think that’s how I would have felt…” Charlie trailed off and shook his head, “I can’t have been as good a husband as I thought I was if that’s how you thought I would react.”

“You were a great husband, Charlie,” Astoria said. She batted away the tears in her eyes, “That’s what made it so hard to give you up, but I had no choice. There’s a certain lifestyle I need to live with this condition, and I could not envision a world in which you would be okay with that!”

“Well, I can’t envision a world where I can be happy without you!” Charlie snapped, “So try me! Go on, try me! Because blood-sucker or not, I’m still in love with you. I’ve tried not to be, I’ve tried to let go, I’ve tried to forget about you but I can’t, Astoria – I _can’t_!”

Astoria swallowed and looked up at him – his eyes were ablaze, and her stomach flipped. _God,_ she had missed him. Their eyes locked, and they held each other’s gaze silently for a few seconds before they both moved towards each other at the same time.

Their lips crashed together, and Charlie’s rough, calloused hands cradled Astoria’s face. Astoria pushed herself up onto her tiptoes as she cherished Charlie’s warmth – he oozed heat all of the time and ever since the curse had begun to affect her, she felt a permanent coldness in her bones.

“I’m sorry,” Astoria murmured against his lips.

“You should have told me,” Charlie murmured back.

“You really don’t care?” Astoria asked breathily.

“I really don’t care,” Charlie said, his deep blue eyes searching hers.

She gasped as he lifted her onto the counter. Instinctively she wrapped her legs around him, and she knew if she didn’t stop herself soon, she would do something reckless. Astoria was so controlled all of the time, but around Charlie, she was careless.

“I’ve missed you, Charlie, but I can’t sleep with you,” Astoria whispered against his lips, “Especially not in my sister's kitchen.”

Charlie chuckled lowly, and the sound sent shivers down Astoria’s spine.

“There’s a lot more to it than what I told you,” Astoria admitted, tearing her eyes away from his, “There are things that are different, there’s a…person…”

Charlie’s face fell, “You’ve met someone else?”

“It’s not like that,” Astoria assured him, “We’re not together, but we are…intimate.”

“You know I’ve not been a saint since we split up, Astoria,” Charlie said, averting his gaze, “I did some things too.”

“Like made out with a child at the Black-Nott Halloween party?” Astoria asked.

“Right, yeah – not my finest moment,” Charlie admitted, “You know Caroline, my therapist? The one I was seeing about my sex addiction and my unhealthy attraction to younger women?”

Astoria nodded, “Yes.”

“Well she’s not much older than Harry, and I slept with her.” Charlie admitted, “My sex addiction therapist, like…that’s a fuck up and a half, isn’t it?”

Astoria laughed at that, “Oh Charlie – you’re such a walking bundle of cliches, but by Merlin, I have missed you.”

Charlie laughed weakly, “So this other guy? Is it Jason?”

Astoria frowned, “What other guy?”

“You said there were other things, another person,” Charlie reminded her.

“Oh, yes,” Astoria agreed, “My sponsor. The Society for Tolerance of Vampires have meetings to help you manage the bloodlust, and they give you a sponsor.”

“Is that a fancy word for familiar?” Charlie asked.

“Essentially, yes,” Astoria confessed, “It means that I can feed without the fear of hurting someone. Vampires and familiars don’t always have intimate relationships, but it is hard to resist that pull because the nature of feeding on someone is pretty intimate.”

Charlie nodded.

“While you and I were together, I fought that urge because I didn’t want to be unfaithful to you,” Astoria said honestly, “I was born because my mother was unfaithful to the man I thought was my father and I could never do that to someone I love as much as I love you.”

Charlie smiled – it was the first time she had said it back during their conversation that evening.

“But after you and I split up, I found a certain degree of comfort in Angela,” Astoria finished.

“Angela?”

“My sponsor, familiar – whatever you want to call her,” Astoria said with a nod.

“She’s a girl?” Charlie asked, his eyebrows shooting up into his hairline.

“Yes, she’s a girl. Why is everyone so surprised about that?” Astoria asked with a scoff.

“We were married for three years, and I had no idea you were that way inclined,” Charlie admitted, “I mean hey, no judgement from me. I think I’ve slept with everything that goes – men, women, at least one werewolf, maybe even a centaur but I was really drunk that night so…”

Astoria shot him an amused look, “In the spirit of honesty, I did sleep with Jason. As I said, Angela and I aren’t together; it’s just a mutually beneficial relationship.”

Charlie nodded, “Yeah, that sounds like a fair description. Did you just sleep with Jason to piss me off then?”

Astoria cringed, “Not exactly. I did try and sleep with you first, but you rejected me. Remember?”

“Yeah, also not my finest moment,” Charlie admitted.

“I know so I had to find a suitable replacement,” Astoria shrugged, “Some things changed when I became afflicted. The obvious one being the thirst for human blood, but there are other things too. I’m always cold which is incredibly irritating, but I also have a much higher sex drive than I did before and don’t get me wrong, I enjoy being with Angela but I also enjoy male company.”

Charlie grinned, “So I set the bar high then, did I?”

Astoria shot him an exasperated look.

“Yes, Charlie – let’s make this all about you, why don’t we?”

Charlie barked out a laugh, “By Godric, I’ve missed you.”

Astoria smiled sadly, “It doesn’t matter though, does it? We can’t make this work.”

“Says who? You?” Charlie quipped.

“Did you miss the part about me being a vampire with a familiar who I overindulge in?” Astoria asked sarcastically.

“Nope, I heard all of that,” Charlie answered, “And I still think we can make this work.”

“How?” Astoria asked incredulously, “Are you going to become my familiar? Because I can’t see that happening.”

“No, that can’t happen, you’re right,” Charlie agreed, “There’s a reason vampires familiars tend to be muggles or squibs with non-physical jobs – its draining, literally. I need to keep my strength up, or I’ll get mauled by a dragon.”

“Exactly.”

“But,” Charlie interjected, “If you wanted to do that with me, then I would let you. You know, just on special occasions.”

Astoria raised an eyebrow at her ex-husband.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, birthdays, anniversaries, maybe the odd Christmas,” Charlie said, shooting her a boyish grin, “And if Angela is happy to become a part of our relationship then it’s all going to work out fine, isn’t it?”

Astoria crossed her arms.

“It will never work.”

“Yes, it will,” Charlie said, “You’re always complaining about how much you hate your secretary unless you’ve gotten a new one since the divorce?”

“I haven’t, and I still hate Betty, she’s useless,” Astoria muttered irritably.

“So hire Angela.” Charlie suggested, “Hire her as your personal and business secretary. When you go away, she goes with you, and it means you can give her quarters in your home. Nobody will ask any questions, and you will have everything you want and need.”

“You’re assuming I want you?” Astoria quipped.

“Oh, I know you want me,” Charlie said with a grin, “It’s taking every ounce of self-control you have not to jump my bones in your sister’s kitchen right now. Isn't it?”

Astoria was suddenly far more aware of how close he was, of his warm breath ghosting across her cheek. His sparkling blue eyes met hers, and his grin didn’t waver.

“So why don’t we go back to your flat and discuss how we can make this work in further detail?”

Astoria watched him for a moment and considered his offer before answering him.

“Screw it, let’s go.”

* * *

Harry and Daphne were playing chess in the drawing-room when the floo system roared to alert them to the fact somebody had activated it from another room.

“Which one do you think left?” Daphne asked, listening for footsteps downstairs.

Harry frowned, “I don’t know; it’s pretty quiet down there.”

“That’s because both of them left,” A familiar voice said.

Harry and Daphne both turned around and looked for the owner of the voice – it was Anastasia Malfoy who had just stepped into Charlus Potter’s portrait.

“Go back to the kitchen, whore!”

Daphne rolled her eyes, “Would you shut up Dorea? She obviously has important information for us.”

Dorea Black scoffed irritably. The portraits in their home were so dramatic; they could have their own sitcom.

Harry smiled in amusement.

“They both left?”

“They talked an awful lot about Astoria’s affliction,” Anastasia said, “At one point I feared they might copulate in your kitchen.”

Daphne made a face.

“Oh, Merlin – how heated did it get?”

“Rather,” Anastasia replied distastefully.

“Wipe that look off of your face!” Dorea called, “You copulated with my Husband in that kitchen!”

Daphne rolled her eyes, “This is all your fault, Charlus. Why couldn’t you just keep it in your pants?”

“Have you seen her?” Charlus muttered, nudging his eyes towards Dorea’s portrait, “She looks like a hag, who wouldn’t stray?”

“A HAG?” Dorea screeched.

Daphne shook her head and turned to Harry.

“Ugh, Harry, you’re going to have to clean the kitchen.”

“Why do I have to clean it? She’s your sister!” Harry objected.

Daphne shushed him and turned to Anastasia, “Did they leave together?”

“Yes, they went back to your sisters flat together,” Anastasia answered.

Daphne turned to Harry in disbelief.

“Your plan worked.”

“Of course it did – I didn’t make Head Auror at 25 for nothing now, did I?”

Daphne rolled her eyes, “Why do you always have to prove you’re the alpha male?”

“I don’t have to prove anything love, I am the alpha male,” Harry retorted with a smirk.

“No, you aren’t. Go clean the kitchen.”

Harry scoffed and shook his head at the portraits, “I’m the Head Auror, but I still get bossed around by my wife.”

“Get used to it son!” James yelled from his portrait.

“Listen to your father,” Daphne said, smirking playfully at Harry and leaving the room.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	60. Love Can Change the Weather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry starts his new job, and things begin to look up for everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:  
> Chances by Five for Fighting.

Harry felt far more nervous than he thought he would when Monday rolled around. He had barely slept the night before, and his family had bombarded him with attention that morning

When he got into the DMLE, it was like a ghost town because it was still so early in the morning. The big announcement would come, but before that, he had to meet with the Head of the DMLE.

Harry took a deep breath and knocked on the door of Tiberius McLaggen’s office.

“Enter,” A curt voice ordered.

Harry stepped inside and forced a polite smile onto his face.

“Good morning, sir.”

Tiberius – a slightly overweight man with greying brown hair that was getting sparse around his hairline - smiled back but Harry could tell that it was a false smile.

“Good morning, Harry. Please – sit.”

Harry sat down opposite his desk and looked up at him, confidently.

“I believe it is a tradition that we meet before the formal announcement?”

“Indeed,” Tiberius said, “Your appointment as Head Auror was a rather strange one.”

“Was it?” Harry asked, feigning innocence.

Tiberius surveyed him carefully.

“It went above my head, straight to the Minister for Magic.”

“I see,” Harry said.

“The Minister who fought for the same faction as you in the Second Wizarding War,” Tiberius continued, keeping his tone even and giving nothing away.

Harry raised an eyebrow at his boss.

“I’m sorry, are you suggesting that I was given this job because of who I am?”

“I was merely stating a fact,” Tiberius remarked, “And I wished to make it known that I do not appreciate Head Aurors who undermine me.”

“I have no intention of doing that, sir,” Harry promised.

“Good,” Tiberius said carefully, “Because if you ever get any smart ideas about going over my head, I suspect the Daily Prophet would catch wind of your recent struggles with firewhiskey.”

“Hmm,” Harry said with a sincere nod, “Yes, I do suspect that would look bad for the department. I would be stripped of my job, possibly even my rank.”

“Indeed,” Tiberius agreed, a small smirk making its way onto his face.

“I wonder what would happen to you if the Daily Prophet found out that the only reason that Belinda Zabini got her dream promotion to Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic was through her talents in your bed,” Harry said smoothly, “Or perhaps in your office. I suspect you would have wanted to keep your transgressions with her as a secret from your wife and sons.”

Tiberius did not let Harry’s words openly shock him. He fixed Harry with a penetrating look then, after an endless minute, smiled and held out his hand.

“You understand bureaucracy just fine. It seems we will get on better than I had expected.”

Harry smirked and took his outstretched hand.

“My Father-in-Law is Cygnus Greengrass. I am not some green Muggle-born who you can boss around as you did with Sheppard.”

Tiberius did not seem fazed by these words, “You are a Potter, I expect nothing less of you. I must say it is a pleasure to see a true Potter working in the department once again. Your father, as noble as he was, was not built for politics and nor was your grandfather.”

“In all fairness, I think we can attribute a large portion of my affinity with politics to my wife,” Harry admitted with a smile.

Tiberius bowed his head.

“Lady Daphne Greengrass, yes, you did marry well.”

“I did,” Harry agreed which pleased Tiberius because he, of course, meant it from a status point of view, but Harry meant it in an entirely different way.

Tiberius stood and motioned to the door.

“Shall we make our way into the department? Some reporters in your office would like to ask you a few questions before the announcement.”

“Of course,” Harry said, his nerves all but abandoning him now that the day had begun.

* * *

“Good morning!”

Daphne yawned, “Is it? It doesn’t feel like a good morning.”

Bill raised an eyebrow at her.

“Did you get that blood sample from Astoria?”

Daphne put a vial of blood down on the desk in answer to his question.

“Excellent,” Bill remarked, “I received word this morning from the contractor in our new building. It is watertight, free of mould and as of tomorrow, work will begin on the interior.”

Daphne perked up at this, “Did you go with the set of plans that I provided?”

“I did,” Bill confessed, “You will have your mezzanine office on the top floor with a general reception area on the bottom floor, along with a secure filing room and a – how did you call it – zen, waiting area?”

Daphne grinned, “Yes, thank you, Bill.”

Bill smiled, “I do have one question for you.”

“Just one?” Daphne quipped.

“Why just one office?” Bill asked.

“The premises are small, and yes, we could make them bigger,” Daphne agreed, “But we don’t need to. We’ve spent the last five years working out of this little room, and I like it.”

Bill shot her an amused look.

“Are you trying to say, without actually putting it into words, that you would miss me if we didn’t share an office anymore?”

Daphne smiled genuinely at him.

“It’s called Potter and Weasley Curse Breaking for a reason, Bill. I can’t do it without you, and you can’t do it without me. We have always been a team, so why would we have two separate offices?”

“Aw Daphne, I love you too,” Bill said with a broad grin, “You’re the little sister I never wanted.”

Daphne snorted, “Don’t let Ginny hear you saying that.”

Bill just chuckled, “I made you smile though, didn’t I?”

“For half a second, maybe,” Daphne agreed grudgingly. “But I am not in a smiling mood today. There is an ancient curse on my family, and I have no idea how to break it.”

“Luckily for you, I do,” Bill said.

Without another word, he poured the vial of blood into a small glass dish then cast an intricate charm on it. A strand of DNA wove itself into the air, and numbers began to manifest themselves above it.

Daphne frowned, “Is it double encrypted?”

Bill nodded, “We’ll need to break through this level of encryption before we can even see the curse and…did you say the Selwyn’s did this?”

Daphne nodded, “They are a dark family, properly dark, unlike the Crouch’s. We’re just typical Slytherins, we’ve always done what we needed to do to survive.”

“I can tell that the Selwyn’s are a dark family,” Bill said sincerely, “Because of that mark right there.”

The ‘mark’ was glimmering with a purple tinge amongst the golden letters. It was a dark magic mark that meant death or danger.

Daphne paled, “If we get this wrong, we die?”

Bill swallowed and looked her in the eye.

“Go.”

Daphne fixed him with a stern look.

“What did you just say?”

“I said go,” Bill said sternly, “I’ll do this. You have four children.”

“And you have Victoire,” Daphne said, “You have Lara, you have Charlie and Merlin knows, he needs you more than the rest. I don’t know what part of ‘Potter and Weasley Curse Breaking is a partnership’ that you didn’t understand William.”

Bill sighed, “Daphne-”

“I’m staying,” Daphne said firmly, “And we’ll break this together. We’ll work it out on the board. We’ll run a hundred tests and diagnostics until we’re sure, but we do it _together_. understood?”

Bill’s jaw set in protest, but he nodded all the same.

“Understood.”

* * *

Harry’s morning had been as chaotic as he had expected it to be. The reporters had forced him to answer questions for at least an hour then they had photographed him with Tiberius McLaggen – a picture he was sure would be on the front page of every newspaper in Britain the following morning. When he finally thought the ordeal was over, Tiberius had marched him out of his office to make the official announcement.

Kingsley had stood on one side of him, and Tiberius had stood on the other. The Aurors lined the corridor, whispering excitedly, photographers were poised at the ready, and someone was recording the audio, probably to play it on repeat on the Wizarding Wireless Network for the next week.

Kingsley put a proud hand on Harry’s shoulder and boomed, as only he could.

“I am incredibly proud to announce that today marks the appointment of Harry Potter as Head Auror.”

At this, the Aurors all burst into applause, and Harry smiled gratefully at them.

“The youngest Head Auror the department has ever seen,” Kingsley continued above the noise, “And rightfully so.”

“Hear hear!” Someone, Harry thought it was Percy, yelled.

“Speech!” Oliver yelled.

Harry chuckled and shook his head.

“There is no need for a speech!”

“Youngest Head Auror the department has ever seen?” Theo’s voice called, “There needs to be a bloody speech!”

“Speech! Speech!” The other Aurors chanted.

Kingsley smiled at Harry.

“Your people have spoken.”

Harry shook his head, grateful that spontaneous speeches were a talent of his. If he tried to plan anything or wrote anything down, he always forgot it. The best speeches were the ones that came from the heart, after all.

“Alright!” Harry cut in, “I’ll give you a speech!”

They cheered then fell silent.

Harry smiled out at them all.

“Thank you all for your support. I appreciate it, and that’s because I feel like I got here by earning your respect not by being feared like some Head Aurors before me were, and not by being given the position based on who _I_ am.”

The hallway was silent, bar the clicking of cameras and the scratching of quick-quotes quills.

“I like to think that I know every one of you fairly well,” Harry promised, “I have faith that every single person in this room would die for the person standing next to them, and that’s the way that this department should operate. We are more than wizarding law enforcers, we are a family – my predecessors called us a brotherhood, but some of the best amongst us are women, so I think that statement is a little out of date.”

Elizabeth smiled proudly at him.

“After the war with Voldemort, this department was broken. I told our Minister then that I would not lead it until I felt that we had fixed it and together, we have. I look at all of you today, and I don’t see any faces that I feel are untrusting, I don’t see anyone who I worry will deceive me. I would trust every single one of you with my life, and that is how I know, after years of corruption, that we are finally true to the pledge we all recite when we receive our badges. I know that pledge means something again.”

All around the room, people nodded.

Harry bowed his head and raised his hand.

“If they stand behind you, give them protection.”

The other Aurors all raised their hands too.

Harry continued, “If they stand beside you, give them respect.”

He nodded at Draco, who nodded right back at him. All around the room, other Aurors nodded at their partners in the same way.

Harry brought his hand to his heart, and the Aurors all mimicked him.

“If they stand in front of you, watch their back.”

Harry looked out at the sea of Aurors, and they all spoke as one to finish the pledge.

“And if they stand against you, show them no mercy.”

The Aurors all cheered and clapped once more, but Harry paid no attention to them. He looked across the hall at Draco for approval. The blonde man smiled and mouthed, ‘Well done’ which made Harry grin broadly.

It had felt like the dawning of a new era when they all became Aurors after the war, but this felt like the dawn of a new age.

* * *

“Bill – it’s going to work.”

Bill sighed, “We can’t be sure-”

“We have done three test runs,” Daphne said pointedly, “This is it. If we keep waiting, we’re going to talk ourselves out of it when we have the solution right here.”

She motioned irritably to the board.

Bill looked at it warily.

“We face curses with booby traps all of the time, Bill,” Daphne pointed out, “What’s so different about this one?”

“Nothing,” Bill admitted.

“Then why the hesitation?” Daphne asked, frowning at her partner, “The skull in France had an instant death curse on it. The diamond in Africa nearly disembowelled you; we were lucky that Lilly had tagged along on that trip, and let’s not even get into the close call with the amputation curse on the Egyptian scroll.”

“I know,” Bill said quietly, “We’ve nearly died on more than one occasion in the past. You’ve saved my arse, I’ve saved yours, we’ve kept each other alive. Logic dictates that this is no different.”

“And logic normally wins with you, but your head isn’t beating your heart right now,” Daphne said, looking him in the eye, “Why?”

Bill dropped all pretences and let his guard down completely.

“Lara’s pregnant.”

Daphne nodded and twirled her wand around in her hand, absentmindedly.

“Well, that makes sense.”

Bill frowned and was about to ask her what she meant or what had given it away. But before he could, she had pointed her wand at the writing in the air and cast what they thought was the counter-curse.

“Daphne!” Bill exclaimed in horror as the golden light enveloped the room.

It was over in seconds, and as they both blinked the bright light away, they could see that the counter-curse had worked.

“That was fucking stupid!” Bill snapped.

“But it worked.”

“You could have killed yourself!” Bill barked, “You could have killed both of us!”

“But I didn’t because I had faith in our ability,” Daphne said, gripping Bill’s arm and forcing him to look her in the eye, “You didn’t want to cast that counter-curse because Lara is pregnant and for the first time in a long time you’re terrified because you have something to lose. I _had_ to cast that counter-curse because if I don’t break this, my daughter, my baby girl, is going to turn into a monster.”

Bill took a breath to steady his nerves and looked up at the curse, which could now be seen clearly – the letters were scrambled, and they had just come across another stumbling block.

“It’s in ancient French,” Daphne said.

Bill groaned, “Can any of your friends read it?”

“Not reliably,” Daphne admitted, “Hermione recognises the odd word, and Sadie knows a translation spell, but that won’t work on a scrambled curse like this. Theo is our best bet, but I don’t think even he could piece this together. It would take someone who was both well educated and fluent.”

“Someone from a French pureblooded family,” Bill said, looking her in the eye.

Daphne nodded, “You need to call her.”

“Great,” Bill said dryly, “On the day I find out my wife is pregnant, I need to call my ex-wife.”

“You just found out today?” Daphne asked in disbelief, “Merlin, no wonder you’re tetchy. In light of that bit of news, what I just did was a dick move.”

“Thanks for realising that,” Bill muttered under his breath.

* * *

After the reporters and photographers left the building, Harry gathered the Aurors up again for a less official announcement.

“I know today is supposed to be all about me, but I think all of you know that I’m not an ‘all about me’ kind of guy,” Harry said with a smile, “So let’s make today about something far more useful than me being appointed Head Auror.”

He had caught their attention, and only a handful of people could predict what he was going to say.

“That being said, I would like you all to congratulate Theodore Nott on the map of London that he has created. He has completed it, and we will utilise it straight away,” Harry said proudly.

“Not only will the map revolutionise this department. It is also the first step in improving our ability to survey London, protecting the lives of many witches and wizards.”

There was a round of applause. Theo did a mock bow and whispered to Draco.

“Do you want to hear what I’ve got planned next?”

“I don’t think I do, no,” Draco replied.

Theo beamed at Draco, his eyes glinting mischievously.

“Killer sharks with laserbeams attached to their heads.”

“You need to stop watching movies,” Neville muttered from Theo’s other side.

Draco shook his head in amusement.

“This is just your dream job, isn’t it?”

“They pay me to be a crazy inventor, are you kidding me? Of course, it’s my dream job!”

“Well, they say that women marry men that remind them of their Father,” Neville joked, patting Theo on the shoulder, “Just don’t invent bombs like Sadie’s dad did.”

“Yeah, I don’t have any intention of doing that,” Theo said honestly, “But sharks with-”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because they would only work underwater!”

“What if I made them capable of flying and living on land?” Theo asked.

“Then they would be horrifically terrifying,” Draco said, raising an eyebrow at Theo, “And would you be able to train them or would they eat Aurors as well as bad guys?”

Theo grimaced, “Good point. I guess I’ll go back to the drawing board and work on my idea of self-flying patrol broomsticks.”

“Now _that_ is a good idea,” Neville said with a nod.

Draco nodded, “Yeah, definitely go back to the drawing board with that one and never mention the shark thing again.”

“Okay, deal.”

Harry watched their antics in amusement, but with a little bit of longing too. He wasn’t the guy standing in the middle, slagging off Theo and not having to worry about anything. He was the guy standing up here, making the announcement, surveying things, keeping them alive. He could see why it got to some people who weren’t used to having that kind of pressure put on them.

He headed back into his office, hoping for a little bit of quiet, but that didn’t happen. By the time Harry got any time to himself, it was past lunchtime, and he was so glad to see all of the reporters and photographers leave the building. He had just sat down with a cup of coffee when a knock sounded on the door.

“Yes?” Harry called.

Elizabeth opened it and ducked her head in.

“Lux Montgomery is here to see you.”

Harry sat up straight and nodded.

“Of course. Please send her in, Liz.”

Elizabeth smiled at him and opened the door fully. Lux stepped inside, and Elizabeth left.

“How are you doing, Lux?” Harry began.

Lux sighed and shrugged, “As well as we can, I suppose. Ivy is…she seems desensitised to the whole thing, but I suppose that was the years of abuse she suffered under our mother.”

Harry thought about Vernon and how little he would care if the foul man was hit by a car tomorrow. He nodded.

“That’s common. I do know that Ivy is doing well, she asked to come back to work as soon as she was able to.”

Lux swallowed and nodded.

“It’s you I’m concerned about,” Harry said honestly.

“It’s hard,” Lux said, “I won’t lie and pretend that it isn’t. She had her flaws, but she was ultimately my mother, and for the most part, she cared about me. I find it hard to get past the way she treated Ivy, but she did love me. Before Kai died, she loved all of us.”

Harry surveyed her while she spoke.

“Do you recall a Slytherin student who was a few years younger than you, she was called Daphne Greengrass?”

Lux frowned and looked up at Harry.

“Yes, although she’s Daphne Potter now, isn’t she?”

“She is,” Harry said with a small smile, “But when she was still Daphne Greengrass, she had to deal with her mother going to jail for attempted murder – the attempted murder of her father. I think if anyone can understand the turmoil that you are going through, it might be her. She would happily meet you for a coffee one day if you thought that would help?”

Lux nodded, “I think it might,” she admitted.

“I’ll get her to owl you,” Harry said, cocking his head at Lux, “But this might brighten your mood.”

Lux looked up abruptly.

“How do you feel about getting your rank back?” Harry asked her, “I would have to start you as a Junior in a relatively minor department, but Elizabeth and I both feel that Sheppard unfairly dismissed you.”

Lux didn’t seem to believe it.

“You would make me an Auror again?”

“If that was what you wanted,” Harry said. For a moment he doubted himself, maybe he had read her wrong, perhaps she was glad to be free of the department.

“Of course that’s what I want,” Lux said quickly. She looked up at Harry, “You’ll let me come back?”

Harry nodded, “I believe in second chances. I don’t think we should cast people out for one wrong move, especially when it was an emotionally charged you as it was in your case. I think you need some more time to process your grief so I would suggest that you formally return to the department a week today. There will be paperwork to sign before that as well, unfortunately,” he said with a roll of his eyes.

Lux chuckled, “There always is.”

Harry smiled at her, “I would be putting you in Fraud and partnering you up with Blanche Zabini. Her partner needs to go to the training centre for a few months so it would be a temporary measure, to begin with.”

Unlike Blanche had, Lux didn’t let on that there was any reason why she shouldn’t work with Blanche or that there was any history.

“I understand, sir.”

Harry shook his head, “Call me, Harry. Yes, I’m your boss but we’re all equal, we all completed the same training, we’ve all faced the same hurdles to get where we are right now.”

Lux looked at him strangely then she smiled.

“I can see why they call you a revolutionary, Harry.”

Harry smiled broadly at that then politely dismissed her. When she was gone, Elizabeth popped back.

“Well played.”

“I wasn’t playing it at all,” Harry admitted, “Everything I told her was the truth. I just kept some of my more irate thoughts about John to myself.”

Elizabeth sighed, “Nobody is angrier at John than John himself.”

“I know,” Harry confessed, “But I keep coming back to what seemed like a small mistake and realising the waves that it caused. If Lux had stayed in the department, would her mother have been allowed to kill so many people? Or would she have cottoned on and told us that she suspected her mother?”

“We can only guess, and you should know better than anyone, living your life based on ‘what if’s’ is dangerous,” Elizabeth warned, her eyes meeting his.

Harry swallowed and nodded.

“You’re right,” he agreed, “No more what if’s.”

* * *

Daphne had forgotten how beautiful Fleur Delacour was. She didn’t just step into a room; she floated into it in an ethereal way – her hair flew behind her in an invisible wind, her skin glowed beautifully. She smiled radiantly at them and greeted Daphne in the French fashion with a kiss on both cheeks.

“William,” She said, kissing Bill on just one cheek.

Bill smiled a little sadly at her.

“Thank you for coming, Fleur.”

Fleur waved off his gesture of thanks and looked at Daphne.

“William said that this was for your daughter, and I would do anything for ours - I understand.”

“All the same, I appreciate it,” Daphne said honestly.

Fleur smiled, “Where is the curse?”

Daphne gestured to the board where line upon line of ancient French was littered.

“We can’t translate it until we unscramble it and we don’t have enough knowledge of the language to do that,” Daphne admitted.

Fleur looked at it and mouthed something to herself. She frowned slightly, cocked her head at the board and finally, after a long moment, announced.

“Yes, I should be able to unscramble this. If you give me a few hours and some coffee?”

Bill nodded in Daphne’s direction.

“Would you mind fetching some from Diagon, Daph?”

Daphne knew that to be a dismissal, and she also knew that Bill wanted her gone for a reasonable length of time because she could have quickly gone to the canteen down the hall for coffee.

“Of course,” Daphne said, and she left the former husband and wife in peace.

Fleur got to work straight away. The moment the door swung shut behind Daphne, she began to shift the words on the board around with her wand.

“Are you sleeping with her?”

Bill frowned, “Who? Daphne?”

“Who else?” Fleur asked calmly.

“No,” Bill returned, “She’s like a little sister to me, and she’s Harry’s wife for Godric’s sake.”

“You just seem very comfortable around each other,” Fleur noted, putting one already unscrambled word at the top of the board.

“We work together every day,” Bill said with a shrug, “And we’re launching our new business soon. We’re branching out, leaving the bank.”

“Are you?” Fleur asked with interest, “I never thought you would leave the bank.”

“No, neither did I,” Bill admitted, “It was Daphne’s idea, she’s the visionary. I just go along with her plans, do what she asks for the most part. I stand my ground when I need to. She’s my work-wife, I suppose.”

Fleur shot him a strange look.

“We do not have that word in French.”

Bill sighed, “She keeps me right. Just like you did.”

“And as your new wife does?”

Bill had been waiting for that.

“Lara? Yes.”

“You never told me that you had married her. I had to find out from our daughter,” Fleur said.

“It wasn’t the big white wedding,” Bill replied, “Both of us had been married before, we didn’t see the point. We just did it at the Ministry with Charlie and Astoria as our witnesses.”

Fleur said nothing, choosing to continue re-arranging the letters on the board instead.

After a few minutes, Bill spoke.

“Will you ever marry again?”

“Marriage is a sacred vow,” Fleur returned quietly, “If I were to remarry, I would like to be more sure that it was for the last time.”

Bill frowned, he was sure about Lara. He knew she was the one, the one he hadn’t realised that he had been searching for his entire life until he found her again.

Fleur moved another French word to the top of the board.

“We’re trying to have a baby,” Bill confessed. He didn’t want to tell her the truth; he didn’t want to tell anyone apart from Daphne and Charlie about that until Lara’s pregnancy was a bit further on.

Fleur turned and raised an eyebrow.

“I thought you did not want any more children?”

“I thought that too,” Bill confessed, “But I love Victoire and only seeing her on weekends or during the holidays…I know it’s my fault, Fleur. I know I screwed our marriage up, and this is the price I have to pay, but it’s hard. I don’t want to be a weekend Dad.”

Fleur turned her nose up.

“You had better not treat this new child any better than you treat Victoire. She is your firstborn, that should mean something regardless of how often you see her.”

“It does mean something,” Bill assured Fleur.

The French woman didn’t look convinced, but thankfully she fell silent and resorted to focusing on the curse.

* * *

That evening, Harry’s friends held an impromptu party at Blacknot Castle. It was as much a celebration of the fact the family had moved back in again as it was a celebration of Harry’s new role as the youngest ever Head Auror.

Daphne was in high spirits because, thanks to Fleur, she and Bill had broken the curse. No more Crouch’s would be affected by it, Astoria would be the last. It was bittersweet, Daphne was happy for her children, but she was worried about her sister too.

“She’ll be fine,” Lilly had said when Daphne voiced this opinion to her best friend.

Daphne had nodded, but not truly believed it, which was what led to their current topic of conversation.

“Well, according to Anastasia, they are going to try and make it work,” Daphne was saying, “Along with her sponsor/special friend Amber.”

Lilly bit her lip to avoid commenting.

Daphne noticed and raised an eyebrow at her.

“Spit it out.”

“I just think it’s a little amusing,” Lilly admitted, her lips quirking into a smile, “Greengrass women and their lesbian tendencies.”

Daphne shot her a suggestive look.

“You are not one to talk.”

Lilly snorted very ungraciously, “I didn’t say I was, but still. Charlie’s okay with the vampire three-way?”

“You’ve met Charlie, haven’t you?” Daphne returned.

“True,” Lilly chuckled, “I can’t believe you got the portrait of the maid to spy for you, by the way.”

Daphne shrugged, “The perks of living in a pureblood Manor, right?”

Lilly shot her an amused look.

“Maybe for you. I’m sick of Augusta telling me that I’m getting fat, or that my swollen ankles mean I’ve got high blood pressure. I don’t know how many times I have to yell ‘ _I’m a Healer!_ ’ at that damn portrait before she gets it.”

“No wonder Neville is so worried about your mental health,” Daphne teased.

Lilly punched her in the arm and Daphne snickered, but the conversation didn’t go any further than that because footsteps in the entrance hall alerted them to Harry’s presence.

They all fell silent until he walked in, then they yelled.

“SURPRISE!”

Harry jumped out of his skin, and Neville barked out a loud laugh.

“Congratulations, mate.”

“Make way!” Theo called dramatically as he dragged Harry into the room, “Youngest Head Auror ever coming through!”

Harry laughed and looked across the room, catching Daphne’s eye. She smiled radiantly at him, and he grinned right back.

“Thanks, everyone,” Harry said, and they knew he wasn’t just talking about the surprise party, he was talking about everything they had helped himself and Daphne through in the past few months.

“Hey,” Hermione said, nudging Harry and catching his attention.

He looked over at her. She was standing with Sadie, and they were both looking at him inquisitively.

“Yeah?”

“I just asked you a question, but you were clearly in such a deep daydream that you didn’t hear it,” Hermione said, amusement lacing her voice, “Draco said there was a story behind you becoming Head Auror. A story involving Rob and Shep and some not so latent homosexual feelings?”

Harry grinned, “Hermione Granger, you gossip.”

Hermione shot him a knowing look.

“Hermione _Black_ and like you’re going to struggle to oblige. You love a good gossip, so go on, spill the beans.”

Harry chuckled and did so. He recounted the whole story, making sure to end it as dramatically as possible.

“And then Rob had Shep up against the tree by his neck,” Harry said dramatically, his hands flailing around, “And they were this close,” he stepped forward to show Hermione, “Like you and I that night in the tent, remember?”

“Uh-huh,” Hermione said, taking a step back and ignoring Sadie’s snort of amusement.

“And I swear, I didn’t know if they were going to fight or make out,” Harry said with a shake of his head, “I thought to myself, this must be what Hermione feels like when Draco and Theo fight.”

“Oh, shut up,” Hermione retorted.

Sadie smirked, “To be fair, that was what it was like the night of thunderstorm. We were watching them wondering who was going to punch who then all of a sudden they were kissing in the pouring rain.”

“See when you say kissing do you mean like a friendly kiss or a proper kiss?” Harry asked curiously.

“Don’t answer him; he’s just nosy,” Hermione muttered.

Sadie answered all the same, “Oh, it was a proper kiss, alright.”

“So are they sleeping together or what?”

“They are not sleeping together, okay?” Hermione said, nudging him in the ribs, “It’s like the two of them need their relationship with each other for their relationships with us to function. I don’t know how better to explain it, but they get intimate like that when tensions are fraught, normally little touches are enough for them to feel close to each other.”

Harry frowned, “What do you mean?”

Sadie shrugged, “When they sit together their shoulders or legs are always touching, or one of their hands rests on top of the others. It’s in little hugs and brief touches usually – it’s only like that when things are desperate.”

“Like you and I,” Harry said, looking over at Hermione, “During the war – before we were sleeping together I mean. For a long time, it was in the little touches; it was …how do I explain it? It was like we needed to feel each other to remind ourselves that we were both still there.”

“That’s exactly what it is,” Hermione said honestly, “So please drop the whole sex thing.”

“I will, I promise,” Harry said sincerely.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	61. Did You Want the Crown or Does it Weigh You Down?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A training duel goes wrong and there is one question on everyone’s mind – “Why has Daphne invited us to Thanksgiving?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song:  
> Homecoming Queen by Kelsea Ballerini.

On Tuesday, Harry’s plan of catching up on the week of paperwork he had missed while he was Acting Head Auror, did not go to plan chiefly because the idiots that he called friends kept interrupting him.

“Harry,” Draco said, ducking his head into the office.

“Yes?” Harry said, without looking up from the report that he was double-checking and signing.

“I don’t know if there’s a polite way of saying this, but I don’t think there is,” Draco said matter of factly, “Why the fuck has your wife invited us to Thanksgiving?”

“Yeah, we’re not American,” Theo agreed as he stepped into the office.

Harry sighed, “Do you two do everything together?”

“Pretty much,” Theo returned offhandedly.

Draco shot him a long-suffering look and said, “Not _everything_. But really, Harry, Thanksgiving?”

“I know,” Harry muttered, signing his form and looking up at them, “But Daphne got the idea in her head, and you know how she is when that happens. She thinks with the year we’ve had; it’s important to give thanks for getting through it.”

“Which is a nice sentiment and all, but Thanksgiving is an American thing. The Witches and Wizards thanking the native American tribes of witches and wizards who helped them settle in the new world and all that,” Theo said with a wave of his hands, “She can’t rewrite history just because she feels like it.”

“Don’t be dramatic, Theo,” Harry snorted, “She’s not rewriting history, she’s just celebrating a holiday that makes no sense because we’re not American and we don’t know anyone who is.”

“Right,” Draco said sarcastically, “Because that makes so much more sense. Either way, we won’t be coming.”

“Uh-huh,” Harry said.

“Why don’t you sound bothered about that?” Draco asked irritably.

“Because it’s not true,” Harry remarked, signing another form, “You’ll tell Hermione that you’re not going and she’ll have a rant at you. She’ll tell you how it's important to support your friends, especially with everything they have been through this year then she’ll give you a guilt trip about how Theo nearly died and tell you that you ought to be thankful.”

Draco glared at him.

“I hate you.”

“No, you just hate how right I am,” Harry said, looking up and smirking at the blonde man.

Theo chuckled under his breath.

“He’s right.”

“Don’t take his side!” Draco objected.

“If you two are going to have a lovers quarrel can you take it to Theo’s office? Or a cleaning cupboard?” Harry asked dryly, “I do actually have a ton of work to do.”

“Oh, of course, Head Auror Potter,” Theo said dramatically, “Wouldn’t want to get in the way of all that important paperwork, would we Draco?”

“Absolutely not, Theodore. Head Auror Potter better watch that big, important head of his though. If it gets much bigger, he’ll be trapped in this office forever,” Draco joined in.

Harry rolled his eyes and lifted a hand; they assumed it was to dismiss them. That was until Harry balled his hand into a fist then thrust his fingers out, creating a strong wind and pushing Draco and Theo out of his office. With a wave of his hand, the door slammed shut behind them.

“Harry James Potter!” A stern voice came from the office next door, “You knocked the entire rota off of my desk!”

Harry grimaced, “Sorry, Liz.”

“Get your sorry arses out of here and back to work you two, now!” Elizabeth barked at Draco and Theo.

Harry grinned when he heard another door shut loudly.

Maybe this paper-pushing thing wouldn’t be so bad after all.

* * *

That afternoon, on his lunch break, Harry slipped into Neville’s new domain – the cavern that was the filing room.

“Hey, Nev, you around? I brought pumpkin pasties.”

Neville appeared from behind a filing cabinet.

“Thank you; I haven’t eaten all day.”

“Yeah, I know what you’re like,” Harry chuckled, handing his friend a pasty, “You’re like Hermione when she gets buried in a book.”

Neville took a bite and hummed appreciatively.

“How goes the Head Auror gig?”

“Fine since I kicked Draco and Theo out of my office,” Harry said with a roll of his eyes, “Pair of clowns, honestly.”

Neville snorted, “You’ve just noticed?”

Harry shook his head and sank onto a moth-eaten sofa.

“Did you put this here just for me?”

“No its been there for years so watch out, you never know what might crawl up your arse,” Neville joked.

Harry jumped up and cast, “ _Scourgify_!” on the sofa. He was rather disgusted by the number of dead bugs that fell out of it.

“Not gonna sit back down?” Neville grinned.

Harry poked him in the chest.

“You’re not my favourite person today.”

“I’m not your favourite person on any day,” Neville returned.

“That’s not true, it’s usually a battle between you, Daphne and Lilly,” Harry shrugged, “Depending on what day it is, how hormonal Lilly is and how bitchy Daphne is.”

“That sounds fair,” Neville mused, “What’s with the Thanksgiving thing by the way?”

“Oh, don’t you start too,” Harry said with a sigh, “It’s Daphne’s way of dealing with the shitty year, I think. And yes, I know we’re not American, and therefore it makes sense but-”

“She feels the need to thank everyone around her for helping each other through the shittest year we’ve ever had,” Neville said with a nod, “I get it.”

“The shittest year we’ve ever had? Come on, I know it was bad, but surely 1997 takes the biscuit?” Harry said, taking a bite out of his pasty.

“I don’t know,” Neville admitted, “1998 was pretty bad for me, the first half of it anyway.”

“Yeah,” Harry sighed, “Me too, but nearly losing you this year…that hurt a damn sight more than the Battle of Hogwarts did.”

Neville smiled at him, “Yeah, I love you too mate,” he said, clapping Harry on the shoulder.

Harry just chuckled in response, and they fell into a comfortable silence.

* * *

Harry got a nice little break from paperwork later that afternoon. As a bonus, he also got to take out his irritation at Draco and Theo.

“Nott – duelling room for your first refresher,” Harry called, ducking his head into the consultant's office.

Theo stepped outside, “Ready to get your arsed kicked?”

Harry shot him an amused look.

“Sir,” he corrected him.

“There’s no need to call me sir, Head Auror Potter,” Theo returned, god he was quick on the uptake.

“Oi, don’t use my own lines against me!” Harry said, pointing at Theo and kicking open the door to the duelling room.

Theo sniggered and stepped inside. Harry followed him and shut the door behind him. He knocked on the clear glass that lined one side of the room.

“Say hello to your audience, Theo.”

Theo looked over. On the other side of the glass, Draco, Ben and Owen were waving to them. Theo gave an overly dramatic wave then did a bow as he crossed the room.

Harry shook his head, an amused smile on his lips.

“Enough with the theatrics. What are you doing, training for the ballet?”

“Excuse me,” Draco’s voice cut in, “That is _my_ line.”

Theo chuckled and drew his wand.

“That is his line. Use your own.”

Harry drew his wand and walked forward. Theo did the same, stopping when they were almost nose to nose.

“Scared, Nott?”

“You wish,” Theo grinned.

“Harry, that’s our thing,” Draco’s voice cut in, “And frankly, I’m offended that you’re doing our thing with someone else.”

Harry shot Draco an amused look, “Even if that someone else is your boyfriend?”

“That’s not the point; it’s still our thing!” Draco objected.

Harry and Theo walked back to their places, and Harry ignored the huffy look on Draco’s face. The moment he and Theo spun around, the duel began, and it was as fast-paced as it was interesting. Theo had realised that his magical power wasn’t what it used to be, so he was inventive instead. For the most part, that worked, but when he conjured a snake, Harry just asked it not to hurt him and banished it to his snake cabin.

Things went sideways when Harry told Theo to practice the more powerful spells, to push himself and see what he could still manage and what was too much for him. In hindsight that hadn’t been a great idea because all it took was for him to lose concentration for a split second. His shield charm faltered, and before he could refresh it, a spell hit him.

The others ran into the duelling room when they saw Harry get knocked back into the wall.

“I’m fine,” Harry said, raising a hand and taking in a sharp breath.

“There’s more blood than white on your shirt,” Draco pointed out. He gripped Harry’s shoulder and steered him into a chair, “So I beg to differ.”

Harry looked down at the three slash wounds that had cut through his shirt; there was a substantial amount of blood there.

“Ah…okay. I thought it was just a graze,” Harry admitted.

“That’s because you have a ridiculously high pain threshold,” Draco said, casting a quick charm to slow down the bleeding.

“Harry, I’m so sorry,” Theo said shakily.

Harry shook his head, “It’s fine, Theo. This is why I wanted you to practice – don’t sweat it, alright?”

“He’s right, Theo,” Draco said, pushing Harry’s shirt off his shoulders, “Far better this happens in a duelling room when we can fix it quickly and easily than if it happens in the real world.”

Theo nodded, but the two juniors had fallen silent.

“Holy shit,” Ben breathed.

Harry frowned and looked up at him.

“What are you…” he trailed off and followed Ben’s line of sight, “Oh, the tattoos?”

Ben was amazed, “Uh yeah, I just didn’t expect that.”

“Nobody does,” Harry said with a slight smile, “I’m kind of addicted.”

“Kind of?” Draco retorted, murmuring a spell under his breath which made a saline solution come out of his wand.

Harry gritted his teeth as the solution washed out the wounds.

“I’m with Draco on that one,” Ben admitted, “I can see more ink than skin.”

“Owen – first aid kit?”

Owen threw the first aid kit to Draco who opened it up and grabbed a thick flannel. He pressed it against the worst wound to stop the bleeding.

“We all got a tattoo together, well apart from Theo because he was too busy impregnating his wife.”

Owen made a face, “Dude, that’s my cousin you’re talking about.”

Harry snorted in amusement, and Theo rolled his eyes.

“I was on my honeymoon where yes, I accidentally impregnated my wife but I love my twins very much, thank you Draco.”

“I was just explaining your absence,” Draco joked, shooting his best friend a grin over his shoulder.

“We all got our Animagus form tattooed on our forearms, and when Theo got back he decided not to join the clique because he didn’t want a red panda on his body – wasn’t manly enough for him.”

Harry chuckled, “Draco and Neville weren’t that keen, but I ended up getting a bit addicted. I got one for everyone I loved who has died and then just sort of kept going.”

“Do they hurt?” Ben asked.

Harry shrugged, “Sometimes, depending on where on my body they are.”

“You could always get the artist to use a numbing charm like a regular person,” Theo remarked, “But you’ve got a bit of a pain fetish, so you don’t.”

Harry rolled his eyes, “I don’t have a pain fetish, I sort of…it’s not that I enjoy the pain, but the pain is part of the process. It’s how I let go of people I love. I endure the pain, and then I try not to let it consume me like it used to when I was younger.”

“I kind of get that,” Owen admitted.

“Are they all magical?” Ben added.

Harry shook his head, “Nah, some of them are but not all of them.”

Draco had been silent for the last few minutes as he concentrated on fixing Harry up. The wounds had bled a lot but had just been flesh wounds, so he had been able to seal them up with magic which meant there had been no stitches.

“You’re all good. You want a shot of pain potion?”

“Nah, I’m good,” Harry replied, “Thanks – bit ironic, you fixing me up from a slashing curse, isn’t it?”

“Just shows how far we’ve come,” Draco answered with a smile.

Harry smiled back, and Owen raised an eyebrow at Theo, “Inside joke?”

“Harry nearly killed Draco with a homemade cutting curse in sixth year,” Theo replied, “We joke about it now.”

“I swear to Helga, I do not understand you lot,” Owen snorted.

“You and me both,” Ben added.

Harry chuckled and got to his feet, aware that the Juniors were still looking at his tattoos.

“You want to know what they all mean?”

“No,” Draco and Theo chorused.

“Yeah,” Ben had said.

Owen nodded, “Yeah, I do too.”

“Here we go again,” Draco muttered in Theo’s ear.

Harry grinned, “Right well, I’ll tell you them in the order that I got them.”

He pointed to the phoenix on his left forearm.

“This one was the first. Then I got this one.”

Harry pointed to a tattoo on his chest – it sat directly over his heart. It was a stags head in great detail, all black and white bar from the flowers that adorned the antlers.

“It’s for my parents,” Harry said, “A stag for my dad and the lilies are for my mum.”

Harry turned around and said.

“The big one in the middle of my back was the first magical one.”

The tattoo was huge and took up the centre of his back. It was a mandala with Hogwarts castle at the centre. Like the stag, it was in black and white, but because it was a magical tattoo, there was more to it than that.

“Draco, touch the castle.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “Why do I have to do it?”

“Because I might get sacked if I tell the baby Aurors to touch me,” Harry joked, shooting Draco an amused look.

Theo sniggered and stepped forward, pressing his finger against the castle. When he did so, the skin coloured backdrop surrounding the castle turned black, and fireworks began to go off.

“Cool, but why the fireworks?” Ben asked, “To celebrate the end of the war?”

“Nope,” Harry replied, “Daphne and I didn’t just fall in love. There was a lot of back and forth, but it was on Bonfire Night under all of the fireworks that we technically started dating.”

“Gryffindors,” Theo said, shooting Ben a grin, “Romantics.”

Ben rolled his eyes, “Yep,” he agreed as he thought of Dan.

Harry quickly moved the subject forward so that Ben didn’t spend too long moping.

“I got this one next,” he said, showing them a tattoo on his left shoulder blade. It was of a dog and a wolf running in the moonlight. It was the first tattoo that was entirely in colour, “It’s for my Godfather and his best friend.”

“Then I got this one,” Harry said, pulling up his right trouser leg to show them a colour tattoo of a Boa Constrictor. It curled around his lower leg and mesmerised Ben.

“Is the head moving, or is it a trick of the light?”

“Nah, it’s another magical one,” Harry said, dropping his trouser leg, “It’s my snake, Dave.”

“I thought you had loads of snakes?” Owen asked.

“He does, but Dave’s his favourite,” Draco said, an amused smile gracing his lips.

Harry ignored the slight jibe.

“I got this one after Daphne, and I got married - ” he motioned to a laurel tree on his chest. It was on the opposite side of the one for his parents. The tree was bare of leaves and instead adorned with blue icicles, there was also a crown wrapped around the trunk of the tree.

“She called herself the Ice Queen,” Harry explained, “But since I was the one that managed to thaw her, I made sure this was a magical one, so it does this…”

He ran his finger up the trunk of the tree, and the icicles fell from the tree then lush green leaves bloomed in their place.

“Of course when he unveiled that one we all slagged him off for the motion it takes to make the tree bloom,” Theo grinned, “Apparently all you have to do is stroke Daphne to thaw her,” he winked.

“Daphne punched him in the face when he said that by the way, just for the record,” Harry cut in.

“We’ll show you the memory sometime,” Draco added, smirking at Theo.

“What a show of loyalty,” Theo tutted, but it was clear that he was joking.

Harry chuckled, “I got this one shortly when we adopted Teddy - ” he pointed out a tattoo on his right shoulder blade. It was of a wolf cub with pink fur and the words, “Wotcher!” were woven around it.

“Theo, would you do the honours?”

When Theo touched the tattoo, the wolf cubs fur began to cycle through all of the colours of the rainbow, as did the writing around it.

“It’s for Teddy and his biological mother,” Harry explained, “They are both metamorphagus’s and Teddy’s father was a werewolf so,” he shrugged.

“Then you got the family crest, didn’t you?” Draco asked.

Harry nodded, “Yep – the Potter family crest with the motto in Latin around it- ” he showed them the crest on his right bicep, “ _Non Desistas. Non Exieris ­–_ Never Give Up. Never Surrender.”

“Which you didn’t know until your new wife told you what _your_ family motto was,” Draco smirked.

“The one on the stain glass window in the entrance hall of your family manor,” Theo added.

“Firstly, fuck you, and secondly, it’s a cool family motto,” Harry said, pointing at his two friends, “Thirdly, this is when I went on a bit of downward spiral with my drinking. I didn’t relapse, but I struggled not to, Daphne and I were trying for a baby, and it wasn’t working out, so I got a bunch of depressing tattoos for dead people _without_ numbing charms, yes Theo but it was my way of coping.”

Ben frowned, “How many dead people do you know?” He asked, looking at the remainder of tattoos – there were still quite a lot that Harry hadn’t explained.

“A lot,” Harry admitted, “This one is for a friend I lost during the war - ” he pointed at a tattoo of the Triwizard Cup with a scroll around it bearing the words, _“The Good Die Young_.”

“Yeah, we know,” Ben reminded Harry, “We were in first year when Cedric died. You did take it really badly, everyone kind of thought…” he trailed off and shrugged.

“Yeah,” Owen said. He suddenly looked awkward as he crossed his arms.

Draco noticed, “What do you know?” he asked the Hufflepuff.

“Nothing,” Owen lied.

Theo narrowed his eyes at the younger man.

“Oh, you’re going to have to get better at lying, kiddo. What did you see, or hear? Or see and hear?”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Oh fuck it, I’ll tell you myself.”

Draco raised an eyebrow, “Well, this should be good. You’ve spent quite a few years denying that anything happened between you and Cedric despite half the school trying to set you up that year.”

“That’s because nothing did happen between Cedric and me, physically anyway,” Harry said, “But what Owen heard was a heart to heart in the corridor outside the Hufflepuff common room. Cedric and I got on well from the get-go, he just _got_ me, you know?”

Theo shot Draco a knowing look, but Draco said nothing.

“So when everything started to get a bit too much that year, I had a bit of a breakdown to Cedric, and I cried, and it was incredibly unmanly,” Harry said with a shake of his head, “And a bunch of stupid first years heard it and were cursed into oblivion to keep their mouths shut.”

Owen smiled sheepishly, “Yeah, I was one of those stupid first years.”

“And we can’t fault that, Harry,” Theo said, nudging his head in the direction of the Cedric tattoo, “You lost a good friend, it’s natural that you mourned him.”

Harry cleared his throat, “Yeah. Anyway, this one is for Mad-Eye Moody-” he touched a tattoo on his back of a magical eye which swivelled, “It’s like he’s always watching my back that way.”

“And this one is for Dumbledore,” Harry continued, lifting his sleeve to show them his right forearm. The tattoo was of a lightbulb, and the words around it said, _“Happiness can be found in even the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light.”_

“Which does this,” Harry said, tapping the lightbulb twice to illuminate it, “And it’s handy when you can’t find your wand in the middle of the night.”

Draco snorted in amusement.

“This one is for my owl who died in the war,” Harry said, showing them the Deathly Hallows symbol with a snowy owls face inside the resurrection stone symbol. This tattoo was towards the base of his back.

“This is for Fred Weasley,” Harry continued, lifting his trouser leg to show them a tattoo on his lower left leg. It was the orange “W” logo for Weasley’s Wizards Wheezes with the words, “Mischief Managed” above it.

“This is the one I got for Al after we adopted him,” Harry said, pointing to one on his lower back of a pumpkin with the name, “ _Alastor Sirius”_ inside of it and the date, _“31. 10. 2002”_ underneath it.

“Then you got that one,” Draco said, touching the only tattoo that was visible semi-regularly out-with his Auror life. It was a small constellation on his right forearm, and it meant something to Draco too.

Harry nodded and sighed, “Yeah, it’s the Andromeda constellation. I got it after Teddy’s grandmother died. She was a great woman, a great friend.”

“A great aunt,” Draco said sadly.

Harry nodded, “She would have killed me for putting her name anywhere on my body because she hated it, so that was the alternative. Then just after she passed, Andrea was born who we named after Andromeda. This is the tattoo I got for her.”

Harry motioned to the tattoo next to the one for Alastor. It was a love heart with the infinity symbol going through the centre of it. Above it was the name, “ _Andrea Lilly”_ and below it was the date, “ _9\. 8. 2003”_.

“Then there was this one for Thea,” Harry said, motioning to another tattoo in this grouping. It was a symbol that they didn’t recognise with the name, _“Theodora Tracey_ ” alongside it and the date, “ _17\. 08. 2005_ ” underneath it.

“What’s the symbol?” Ben asked.

“It means hope,” Harry answered, “And that was something we didn’t have much of when Thea was born, so I found it fitting.”

Draco nodded in agreement.

“And this is the most recent one,” Harry finished. He pointed to a tattoo on his torso – it was the Auror sigil (two wands crossed over each other) and underneath it were the initials _“J.S”._

“For Jack,” Theo realised.

Harry nodded, “You haven’t seen that one?”

Theo shook his head, “No, but it makes sense.”

“What’s that one then?” Ben asked, pointing to a dark, black symbol near Harry’s collarbone.

“That’s not a tattoo,” Draco said, shooting Harry an amused look, “That’s a mark of dark magic.”

“Like the Dark Mark?” Ben asked in surprise.

“Sort of,” Harry replied sheepishly, “When you do dark magic – specifically blood magic, it leaves a mark.”

“You did dark magic?” Owen asked, raising an eyebrow at him, “ _You_?”

“I know, isn’t it hilarious?” Draco quipped.

Harry snorted.

“What did you do?” Owen asked.

Harry sighed, “Neville and I swore each other in as blood brothers.”

“So you got matching dark magic sigils to signify your brotherhood,” Theo said with a raised eyebrow, “Cute.”

“Cute?” Harry snorted, “You’ve got some nerve.”

Draco made a face, “He has a point.”

“Oi, are we forgetting about the fact that _you_ kissed _me_ and told me you loved me?” Theo objected.

“You were breaking up with me!”

“You can’t break up with your best friend!”

Harry shook his head in amusement as they began to bicker. He looked over at Ben, who was frowning.

“What is it?”

“You told us about all of them, apart from that one,” He said, his eyes on Harry’s waistline where he could just see the top of a tattoo.

Harry looked uncomfortable, “Yeah that one doesn’t matter.”

“Why?” Owen asked curiously.

“Because,” Harry said evasively as Draco and Theo’s argument came to an end, “It just doesn’t.”

“What did you say to him, Ben?” Draco asked, “He looks flustered.”

“I just asked him about that last tattoo,” Ben said, motioning towards the tattoo in question.

Draco frowned, “I didn’t know you had a new one.”

“Yeah, well…” Harry shrugged.

Theo frowned too, “Neither did I. Let’s see it then.”

Harry made a face, “Do you have to, though?”

Draco raised an eyebrow, “Is it Daphne naked or something? Because I’ve seen that.”

“So have I, FYI,” Theo cut in, “I was privy to her and Blaise’s wartime shower sex.”

“It’s not that,” Harry said irritably.

“Just show us then,” Draco said.

Harry sighed and pulled the waistband of his trousers down by a fraction to reveal the tattoo. It didn’t mean much to Owen and Ben, but Draco and Theo instantly understood the meaning. It was of an hourglass; the sand had all run out of the top into the bottom. In the empty top section were a bunch of numbers which only meant something to those who understood their meaning – _1606802000._

“Is that a badge number?” Owen asked.

Theo nodded and looked at Harry.

“It’s mine.”

“Yeah,” Harry said, “You died, and you know how I deal with that kind of loss, Theo.”

Theo swallowed and cleared his throat, “I never knew I meant that much to you. I know it’s always been the four of us, but I always thought I was the weak link, you know? That Neville and Draco meant more.”

Harry shook his head, “You’ve never been the weak link, Theo. You’ve always been the smartest one, the one we all rely on when we’re in a tough spot. If we’re the next generation of Marauders – you’re the Remus.”

Theo smiled; he understood the significance of that.

“So I’m the one that keeps you all alive then?”

“We all keep each other alive,” Harry said sincerely, “And that’s the way it should be. Neville spent a long time worrying that _he_ was the weak link when he realised that he was the Pettigrew of the group, but he’s not a coward – he’s far from it. Just like you are the Remus of the group, but without his hang-ups and Draco, you’re the Sirius but without his inability to hold down a serious relationship. I’m the James, but without my father's ego. We’re a better version of them, that’s why we made it through all that we did.”

Theo smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

“Nice speech, sorry about the slashing thing.”

Harry shrugged, “Ah, don’t sweat it.”

Ben and Owen shrugged at each other because they had no idea what that exchange had been about. They all headed out of the duelling room together, and Theo frowned.

“So let me get this right – I’m the gay one?”

Harry snorted, “Remus and Sirius were together – you’re both the gay ones.”

“Remus had a wife so technically you’re the bisexual one and I’m the gay one,” Draco admitted.

“Still pretty accurate, all in,” Harry joked, shooting them both a grin.

“Fuck you, Potter.”

“Shut it, Pothead.”

The two former Slytherins had spouted out different insults, in unison.

“Some things never change,” Harry chuckled as he slipped into his office with an amused smile.

* * *

“Drinks?”

Daphne raised her eyebrows at her sister through the fireplace.

“Yes, Astoria. Drinks, alcoholic beverages-”

“I know what drinks are, smart-arse,” Astoria cut in irritably, “I just don’t understand why you’re asking us to come and have them.”

“Because you’re my sister, and I love you,” Daphne said, “Because I’m worried about you, and I want to make sure you’re doing okay.”

Astoria shot her sister a suspicious look.

“Because you’re nosy and want to meet Amber?”

Daphne didn’t even bother trying to lie.

“Well, there is also that.”

Astoria chuckled to herself.

“Fine. As long as it’s not a lot of people.”

“Just a few,” Daphne promised, “The girls from my friend group.”

“Okay,” Astoria said, “8 pm, yes?”

Daphne nodded and smiled brightly,

“Yes, see you then. I love you!”

“I love you too. Bye.”

“Bye,” Daphne chirped.

* * *

It still felt strange for Draco, going to visit his mother in Greengrass House. It didn’t matter how long she and Cygnus had been married for; he didn’t think he would ever get used to that. he raised his hand and sounded the door knocker

Almost immediately, a house-elf answered the door.

“Good evening mister Draco,” She said, bowing lowly.

“Good evening Lorky. Is my mother at home?”

The house-elf nodded vigorously.

“Lady Greengrass is in the drawing-room.”

Lady Greengrass, he couldn’t get used to hearing that either. It just reminded him how linked he and Daphne were these days, a fact that Theo still liked to wind him up about.

Draco nodded, thanked the elf and made his way into the drawing-room. His mother looked up in surprise when she saw him.

“Draco,” Narcissa said, “What a pleasant surprise.”

Draco smiled and walked over to her.

“I hate how surprised you look to see me in your home.”

Narcissa raised an eyebrow at him.

“I think I can count on one hand the number of times that you have visited me since I married Cygnus.”

“I know,” Draco said guiltily, “It’s always you visiting me, visiting the grandchildren. It’s not fair, Mother.”

Narcissa said nothing, but Draco knew that she agreed.

“It is why I have done a lot of thinking on this,” Draco continued, “And a lot of discussing with Hermione, Sadie and Theo.”

Narcissa looked intrigued.

Draco cleared his throat, “Hermione is going back to work soon, as soon as she can, I believe. How would you feel about tutoring Elladora and Caspian at Potter Manor, with the Potter children? Caspian and Theodora would be with the Nanny Elf of course, so it would really only be Elladora.”

Narcissa’s eyes widened, “You trust me?”

“Of course I trust you,” Draco said softly, “I’ve been stupid not to until now. Without you…I wouldn’t be here, you saved my life, more than once.”

Narcissa swallowed a lump in her throat and nodded. She reached out and took his hand.

“I would be honoured to tutor all of my grandchildren, Draco.”

Draco grimaced, “Sweet Salazar, please don’t say that. If you start calling her my sister, I think I’ll throw up.”

“Daphne _is_ your step-sister,” Narcissa pointed out, “And all of her children call you Uncle Draco.”

“Look Mother, I don’t want to get into the specifics of it, but calling her my sister after the things I did with her in darkened corners of the dungeons makes me feel more like a Black than I would care to admit.”

Draco had expected some sort of scolding for that, for being too crude or something in that ilk. He had not expected his mother to let out a reluctant laugh at the joke at her family’s expense. Her laughter was infectious, and Draco found himself laughing too as he sat with his hand in his mothers, finally feeling content enough to thank her and admit that he loved her.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	62. And I Would Like to Thank You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daphne invites the girls over for drinks at Potter Manor to get the gossip on Amber, and Thanksgiving goes better than anyone expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title comes from the song:  
> Thank You by Dido.

Astoria and Amber were the last to arrive on Wednesday evening. This wasn’t because they were late – it was because Daphne had told everyone else to come at 7.30 pm, so she had time to fill them in on Astoria’s affliction and her special friend who helped her through it. Lilly had already known of course, but Hermione, Sadie and Susan had required some filling in on the subject.

When Astoria and her new friend arrived, they did so via the front door, leading Daphne to assume that Astoria had side-apparated them there. Daphne didn’t know what to expect of Amber; all she knew was that she was Astoria’s friend, so she imagined that she was reasonably respectable, maybe a blonde. She thought she might be tall and business-like.

So Daphne got a real shock when she saw Amber. She wasn’t tall; she was short, not much taller than Lilly. Like Lilly, she had red hair, but Daphne would describe Lilly’s hair as auburn, a dark brown with a red tinge. Amber’s hair was really red though, the same colour as the deep lipstick she wore. Her eyes, not dissimilarly to Lilly’s, were big and dark blue. The similarities to Lilly were remarkable, and Daphne knew she wasn’t the only one who had noticed.

She was sitting next to Lilly when Astoria and Amber walked in, and she heard a surprised humph from her best friend. Daphne got to her feet, murmuring to Lilly.

“Maybe that’s why she doesn’t like you, maybe she fancies you.”

Lilly let out a small chuckle at that but didn’t comment any further.

Daphne walked over to them and smiled warmly. Amber was wearing skinny jeans, high heeled boots and a short-sleeved, low-cut t-shirt. Tattoos covered her arms and Daphne could see more beneath the hem of her t-shirt.

“Nice to meet you, Amber,” Daphne said, and she meant it.

“You too, Daphne,” Amber said, and even her accent matched Lilly’s – it was that rough, East-end of London accent that Lilly had somewhat managed to shake throughout her years at Hogwarts and as the wife of Earl Longbottom.

Daphne bit back a grin and hugged Astoria, murmuring in her sister’s ear.

“It seems our tastes aren’t that different after all, Tori.”

Astoria pulled back from the hug and shot Daphne a long-suffering look.

“What are you drinking?” Daphne asked.

“Wine,” Astoria answered, “And whiskey for you, I presume, Amber?”

Amber nodded, “Firewhiskey if you don’t mind. I only get to drink it when I’m in wizarding houses, and this one is amazing, by the way.”

Daphne chuckled and sorted the drinks out.

“You’re a squib, Tori said?”

“Yep,” Amber replied, smiling gratefully when Daphne handed her the drink.

“Well, meet the gang,” Daphne said, motioning to the group of women, “I don’t know how much Astoria has told you about everyone, but I’ll fill in the gaps if you need me to. This is Lilly-”

Amber smiled, “Yes, I’ve definitely heard of you. The hot Muggle-born that Astoria’s sister is sleeping with, right?”

Lilly grinned at Astoria, “ _That’s_ how you described me?”

“That is definitely not how I described you,” Astoria said, sitting down in an armchair and crossing her legs.

Amber sat down next to Lilly and said, “That’s exactly how she described you.”

“And here was me thinking we didn’t like each other, Astoria,” Lilly teased.

“I’m more irritated about the fact you described her as that rather than as my best friend,” Daphne pointed out, “You make it sound like we’re the Black-Notts, we’re just friends.”

“Do you seriously double-barrel our surnames when you talk about us?” Hermione asked in disbelief.

“Yes,” Daphne, Lilly and Astoria echoed.

Sadie raised an eyebrow at Daphne.

“I mean I know we are pretty much in a four-way so I can’t really argue with that, but you and Lilly aren’t just friends.”

“We are just friends unless it’s a special occasion or Daphne’s really drunk,” Lilly compromised.

Daphne looked grudging, but she rolled her eyes.

“Okay, I’ll accept that.”

Amber chuckled and looked at Hermione and Sadie.

“So you’re the two girls whose husbands are sleeping with each other?”

Hermione looked at Astoria in disbelief.

“Really?”

“What? They are, aren’t they?”

“No, they aren’t,” Sadie said irritably, “And you _know_ that so stop gossiping, you pain in the arse.”

Only Sadie, who had known Astoria for as long as she had known Daphne, could get away with saying that and not being cursed.

Susan snorted in amusement.

“You probably won’t have heard of me, Amber. Astoria and I aren’t that close. I’m Susan.”

“You’re right. I haven’t heard of you, sorry,” Amber said.

“I’m fine with that after what Astoria told you about that lot,” Susan said, an amused grin still on her face.

Daphne shook her head, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

“Amber is Astoria’s sponsor. From what I gather, she’s also her familiar, but Astoria and Charlie are going to try and make things work so make of that what you will.”

“I suppose I deserved that,” Astoria admitted.

“Yeah hun, you did,” Amber said matter of factly.

Daphne smirked, “Have you met Charlie yet, Amber?”

“I have,” Amber said, “We’ve seen each other a couple of times over the last few days. I’m sure we can make something of the situation, he’s a nice guy. And Astoria and I have never been exclusive. It’s always been obvious that she was pining for her ex.”

Astoria shot Amber a knowing look, and Daphne snorted.

“Wow, you’ve gone there already.”

“How could you possibly know that?” Sadie asked in disbelief.

“Body language,” Daphne and Lilly answered in unison.

Astoria rolled her eyes, “That is really none of your concern, Daphne.”

“No, but you just confirmed it was true,” Daphne said with a chuckle, “Well, would you look at that? Susie – Susan Amelia Bones – you are the only one in this friend group in a normal relationship.”

“With Percy Weasley at that,” Hermione added.

“Where the fuck did it all go wrong?” Susan joked, making the others laugh.

Lilly chuckled and glanced at Amber.

“So you’re from the East End too?”

Amber nodded, “Yep, Poplar. Where are you from?”

“Hackney,” Lilly replied.

“You’ve lost a lot of the accent,” Amber pointed out.

“Years of being surrounded by posh Purebloods,” Lilly said with a shrug, “Harry and I slip into our old accents sometimes, just to wind up Daphne and Neville.”

“Harry,” Amber said, “Harry Potter, right? Isn’t he from Godric’s Hollow?”

“He is, but his Muggle family raised him in Surrey,” Lilly said, and Amber’s comment didn’t seem too strange to her at that point, but later on, she realised the significance of it.

“Ah, of course,” Amber nodded, “What do all of you guys do for jobs then?”

“I’m a Trauma Healer, Daph is a Curse Breaker,” Lilly began, “Hermione is a lawyer, Sadie is an editor and writer, and Susan is a juror. What about you?”

“I’m a primary school teacher,” Amber replied with a smile, “Trying to bring the standard up in the East End, you know?”

Lilly chuckled, “Wouldn’t be hard, would it? I remember having a teacher who smelled of beer all the time and fell asleep at her desk.”

Amber laughed out loud.

“I had one who spent more time on the phone, yelling at her boyfriend than she did teaching the class.”

While the two girls talked about their shared experience of muggle primary school in London, Daphne paused behind her sister's chair.

“Nice to see them getting along, isn’t it?”

Astoria resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

“Uh-huh.”

“It’s probably because they have so much in common,” Daphne said slyly.

Astoria looked up at her sister and smirked.

“Don’t worry, Daphne; I don’t have a thing for your girlfriend. She’s far too high-strung for me.”

Daphne laughed out loud at that and hugged her sister.

“Good to have you back, Tori,” she said, kissing her on the cheek.

* * *

While the woman had drinks upstairs, the men had been playing poker in the basement. The level of laughter, and some cackling, had been rather alarming so Harry, being the nosy git that he was, decided to take a detour on his way back from the bathroom. He walked into a broom cupboard and pushed a panel at the back of it, opening up a secret staircase to the laird's lug - the spot he could use to eavesdrop on the girls as they gossiped in the drawing-room.

Daphne’s voice was the first that he heard, but he couldn’t see any of them from where he was kneeling in the cold, stone passageway.

“I mean I thought it was good at the time, but now I realise it was pretty amateur, but we were 15 so what more can you expect?”

“So you lost your virginity at 15 to the guy Hermione is now married to?” That voice must have been Amber’s because Harry didn’t recognise it.

“It sounds complicated, but yes,” Daphne answered.

“You think that’s complicated?” Susan asked, “Hermione lost her virginity at 17 to the guy that Daphne is now married to.”

A snort sounded then, “Have all of you slept with each other’s other halves?”

Susan sniggered, “Well I lost my virginity to the guy Sadie’s married to now so…”

“No offence Sadie but I think a lot of girls lost their virginity to your husband,” Daphne teased.

“Yeah, me included,” Sadie said, joking at her own expense.

“So I’m the odd one out here?” Lilly’s voice chipped in, “I lost my virginity to an arsehole called Michael, and that’s all I’ll say about that.”

Astoria laughed, “Yeah, mine wasn’t great either. That was back when I was dating Dennis.”

“He’s an Auror now, works in CPS with Rob and Shep,” Daphne said conversationally.

“Good for him,” Astoria remarked dryly, “I really couldn’t care less.”

“Oh come on, he was your first love, don’t be like that,” Daphne said.

“He wasn’t my first love; he was my first boyfriend,” Astoria corrected, “Charlie was my first love.”

“Aw!” Daphne teased, “How sweet.”

“Shut up, or I will hex you.”

Harry had to bite back an amused laugh at that comment from Astoria. Sometimes they were the best of friends, and sometimes it was evident that they were sisters with a close age-gap between them.

“What about you, Amber?” Lilly asked, “Any awkward first-time stories?”

“Not really,” Amber said, “It was with my boyfriend at the time in the flat I grew up in. He did turn out to be a drug dealer though so there’s that.”

“Classy,” Astoria said, and Harry could hear the humour in her voice.

“I think all of us probably did it at Hogwarts for the first time,” Astoria mused.

“Speak for yourself,” Daphne said, “I wish it had been Hogwarts; it’s a damn sight better than where it _did_ happen.”

“Oh yes, the summerhouse in the grounds of Malfoy Manor,” Astoria teased.

“Thank Merlin that place got sold,” Hermione muttered.

“Yes, it’s an orphanage now, which is _so_ much better,” Sadie teased.

“Oh shut up, Sade,” Daphne cut in, but Harry could tell her heart wasn’t in it.

“Mine is just as bad, it’s the cliché behind greenhouse three,” Susan admitted.

“I’m with you on cliché’s,” Lilly said, “Astronomy tower.”

“Typical Ravenclaws,” Hermione joked.

“Oh, coming from you? Dirty old tent in the middle of the war, right?” Lilly said.

“Yes,” Hermione agreed grudgingly, “Not the most romantic, that’s for sure.”

Astoria chuckled, “Mine isn’t much better; it was an abandoned classroom in one of the old towers.”

“Wow, Astoria Greengrass,” Daphne tutted, “I thought you had more class than that.”

Sadie laughed and said, “You think I have class too, and mine was a broom cupboard.”

“What is it with Theo and public places?” Susan asked, making the other girls laugh loudly.

Harry shook his head in amusement at the hilarity of it all.

Amber laughed and said, “So, you all had sex all over your school?”

“Basically, yeah,” Lilly agreed, “But hey, that’s boarding school for you.”

Harry had to fight another chuckle, so he decided to duck out before his presence was revealed and his wife kicked his arse.

* * *

On Thursday evening, despite almost everyone questioning why Daphne had invited them to Thanksgiving, and stating that they would categorically not come – they all did.

Daphne had been right; it was what they all needed. The kids all played together in the play area that Harry had created in the corner of the drawing-room, and the adults had drinks, made small-talk and unwound. Astoria did come, despite her protestations, and on top of that, she brought Charlie and Amber. The two redheads seemed to get on like a house on fire.

“You have a type,” Harry commented, nudging Astoria in the ribs, “Redheads, rough around the edges, bit of a dirty accent.”

Astoria chuckled and sipped her wine.

“ _You_ have a type – classy, blonde, smart.”

“Daphne Greengrass is my type,” Harry said with a grin, “She set the bar way back in sixth year, and now I get to call her my wife.”

“Merlin Harry, you are sappy,” Astoria muttered.

Harry shrugged, “How are _you_ doing?”

“Fine,” Astoria answered honestly.

“Yeah? You’re not just saying that?”

Astoria shot him an irritated look.

“I am fine. Between Amber and Charlie, I’ll stay on the straight and narrow.”

Harry bit his lip to stop himself from commenting on her being ‘between’ Charlie and Amber.

Astoria noticed and punched him in the arm.

“Ouch! What was that for?”

“Get better at Occlumency,” Astoria said, prodding his scar hard and walking away from him.

“Did you just get verbally bitch-slapped by your sister-in-law?”

Harry scoffed at Neville’s voice.

“No.”

“No? Cause that’s exactly what that looked like,” Neville joked.

Harry rolled his eyes, “You need your eyes tested, Nev.”

Neville shook his head in amusement.

“Daphne said to tell you food will be ready soon, so we’ve been tasked with rounding up the kids.”

Between them, they did so, and then they all headed into the dining room for a beautiful, three-course meal. When it was over, and Harry thought he might burst, Daphne announced that it was time for a game or two. The first one involved them all writing something that they were thankful for on a piece of parchment then shoving all the pieces into a jar in the middle of the table.

They all played along, even if some of them did so grudgingly. Once they had all put their pieces of parchment into the jar, Daphne mixed it with a spell and said, “We’ll pass it around the table, take out a piece of parchment and see if we can work out whose it is. If you get your own, put it back in and take another.”

Astoria rolled her eyes, “Get on with it then.”

Daphne made a face at her sister and pulled a piece of parchment out of the jar.

“ _My Healer_.”

“That’s got to be Nev,” Draco said, looking at the Gryffindor, “You with your back and all.”

“Oi – I’m the one who actually died this year,” Theo cut in.

“You didn’t _actually_ die, we just thought you were dead,” Daphne corrected him, “But you make a valid point. I actually know who it is from the handwriting, so I’m going to keep my mouth shut.”

Theo snorted, “If you know who it is from the handwriting, then it must be someone whose handwriting you know well.”

“That doesn’t narrow it down, dumbass,” Harry said in amusement, “She’s seen your writing, Draco’s and Sadie’s all in class and from studying. She knows Hermione’s writing because they were library buddies; she knows my writing, Neville’s and Lilly’s. Not to mention her own sisters. The only people who that rules out are Amber and Charlie.”

“I’ll file a report tomorrow,” Theo huffed, “Unacceptable, the Head Auror calling me a dumbass.”

Harry threw a napkin at his head.

“We’re off-duty, so I’m not the Head Auror. I’m just the idiot who decided to be your mate.”

Daphne chuckled at the exchange.

“So you’re all guessing Neville then?”

Neville shook his head, “No, it’s Lilly.”

Daphne’s smile gave it away.

“Lilly,” Harry frowned, “What do you mean by that?”

Lilly rolled her eyes, “You really are the most clueless man I’ve ever met. We aren’t allowed to write names, so I had to be inventive, didn’t I? It’s thanks to you that I’m having these twins, it’s thanks to you that Neville isn’t paralysed.”

Harry’s cheeks flushed, and he smiled.

“You don’t have to thank me for that, I told you-”

“It’s Thanksgiving, just shut up and accept the thanks,” Neville advised, patting Harry on the back.

“Even if we’re not American,” Draco drawled. From the grunt of pain that followed, Harry guessed that Hermione or Sadie had kicked him under the table.

Harry promptly shut up and was handed the jar of parchment slips. He reached inside, pulled one out and read out loud.

“ _My best friend._ I also recognise the handwriting so I won’t guess.”

“Well if you recognise the handwriting that must mean-”

Hermione clapped her hand over Theo’s mouth.

“Don’t start that again.”

Theo mumbled something against Hermione’s hand, but she didn’t move it. Then she let out a yelp and let go abruptly.

“Did you just _bite_ me?”

“Theo!” Sadie exclaimed, smacking him around the head, “You can’t just bite people!”

“Yeah, Theo, we tell the kids off for that,” Draco joined in.

Hermione wiped her hand on a napkin and shot him a dirty look.

“You’re a beast.”

“Save the biting for the bedroom, Theo,” Charlie agreed, earning snorts and sniggers of amusement from around the table.

“Come on, I’m going to have to put a timer on this if you keep messing around,” Harry said, clapping his hands and glancing over at the kids who were all happily colouring at a smaller table.

“Right, well there are lots of people who could be grateful for their best friend,” Neville said pragmatically, “I mean, I am.”

“The fact you said that proves it’s not you,” Theo said with a grin, “Could be Draco. He’s been _really_ _thankful_ for me this year.”

Draco shot Theo a long-suffering look.

“Thankful bordering on needy,” Theo continued.

“Do you want me to hex you?” Draco asked dryly.

“It’s not Draco then,” Lilly chuckled, “Could be Daphne, I am the world’s greatest best friend after all.”

Neville looked at her and nodded.

“Yes, it’s Daphne. Think about it, she’s not going to be grateful for Harry this year, is she? He’s been a complete and utter dick.”

“Wow, thanks Neville,” Harry said as the others snickered, “Feeling the love there, man.”

“He has a point though,” Astoria said, “You nearly split up twice this year, that’s quite some achievement.”

“Seriously?” Harry cut in, “You actually split up with Charlie then you hooked up with your hot vampire-fetish girlfriend, and now you’re back together. You do not get to be judgy about Daphne and I’s marital problems.”

“Woah, I do not have a vampire fetish,” Amber cut in, “And I’m not even her girlfriend, I’m just her sponsor.”

“Blood bag,” Theo coughed.

Astoria looked at Theo furiously.

“I can literally kill you now. You realise that, don’t you?”

Theo paled, “Uh, I have a bad cough, sorry?”

Astoria shook her head irritably.

“Okay, shall we just get our facts straight here? Charlie and I are trying to make things work, and Amber _is_ my girlfriend.”

“Am I?”

“Yes, you are,” Astoria said firmly, “Like it or not, you are. Call it what you want, I don’t care but keep it out of the press or Greengrass Industries will sue you.”

Daphne smirked, “There’s the Astoria that we all know and love. She’s been in the house for three hours, and she’s already threatening us with lawsuits.”

“Good to have you back, _darling_ ,” Lilly agreed, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

Astoria couldn’t hide the amused look that crossed her face.

“Be quiet, Lilly.”

Daphne looked down to hide her grin, but Lilly noticed.

Harry decided to break the tension by saying.

“On that note, this is Daphne’s.”

Theo opened his mouth, and this time Sadie clapped her hand over it to stop him from saying something stupid.

“Don’t say it.”

Theo mumbled against her hand, and Sadie rolled her eyes, “I said, don’t say it!”

“You understood that?” Lilly asked in disbelief.

Draco shot Lilly an amused look.

“This is how Theo talks 90% of the time at home. He said ‘I bet she’s thankful for Lilly’, and although you can’t make out the suggestive tone through the mumbling, I could make it out in his head.”

Sadie let go of Theo.

“Stop reading my mind!”

“Stop projecting so much then!”

Harry shook his head in amusement and passed the jar down to Neville. He took one out hastily, hoping it wouldn’t cause the same level of discontent that the last one had.

_“The best friend I could ask for_.”

Daphne laughed, “So someone had the same thought as me.”

“Same spidery writing as you too,” Neville mused.

“Draco,” The occupants of the table chorused.

“What?” Draco objected in disbelief, “How did you get it so quickly?”

“Because you’re the only bloke I know with spidery writing,” Theo said, craning his hand to look at the slip, “It’s cute, though.”

Draco rolled his eyes, “You don’t deserve it, you arse.”

Theo grinned for show, but moved a little closer and murmured.

“Yeah, I love you too.”

Draco gave him that long-suffering look and sighed, but it didn’t break Theo’s resolve. Neville handed the jar to Lilly, who reached inside and pulled out a piece of parchment.

“ _My family.”_

“Jeez, that could be anyone,” Harry said, “We all have families, and I think after this year we’re all thankful for them.”

“Yeah, but who would say family instead of husband or wife?” Daphne pointed out.

“Someone who loves their whole family…but we’ve already had Draco, and I don’t think it’s Theo,” Sadie said, her eyes scanning the occupants at the table, “I think it’s Hermione.”

Hermione smiled at her friend.

“You’re right.”

“Aw Princess,” Theo said, putting his arm around her, “We love you too.”

Hermione shot him a playful glare.

“As we’re not American and this holiday is not sacred to us, I am not beyond hexing you, Theodore.”

Theo removed his arm, but shot her a grin and mouthed, ‘Sorry’. Hermione, despite herself, smiled slightly at the exchange.

Lilly chuckled and handed the jar to Astoria. The dark-haired girl pulled out a piece of parchment and read.

“ _New friends.”_

“Well from the stupid smile on your face I’m going to guess that’s your girlfriends,” Daphne said instantly.

“Did you just use Legilimency?” Astoria asked sharply.

“Would I?” Daphne asked sweetly.

Harry snorted, “Yes, you would. But in this case, I don’t think you needed to.”

“What my husband said,” Daphne said, smiling genuinely at her sister, “It was obviously Amber or Charlie from the look on your face, and we’re hardly new friends to Charlie, are we?”

“Fair enough,” Astoria huffed, passing the jar to Amber.

The squib girl seemed to be enjoying this game more than the others; she reached into the jar eagerly and pulled out a thanks.

“ _My health.”_

“Neville,” Harry said, straight away.

Neville rolled his eyes, “You’re not meant to just shout it out, it ruins the suspense.”

“Oh come on, it’s obviously you. I know Theo is probably happy for his health too, but it was different for you,” Harry said, his tone softer than usual, “You nearly lost your mobility, of course you would be thankful for your health.”

“He’s right,” Neville said with a small shrug, “Even if he is ruining the game.”

“You just shrugged!” Lilly said excitedly.

Neville looked up, “What?”

“You did,” Daphne agreed, “You shrugged. I haven’t seen you do that since the accident.”

“Neither have I,” Lilly remarked.

“It’s the little victories,” Harry said, smiling proudly at Neville, “And you’re doing bloody great.”

Neville smiled sheepishly; he felt uncomfortable the moment he was the centre of attention. Amber had passed the jar to Charlie, so he pulled a piece of parchment out to take the attention away from Neville.

_“Getting back to my family.”_

Sadie smiled radiantly at her husband.

“That must be yours.”

Theo returned the smile.

“It is mine. What could I be more thankful for than that?”

Sadie took his hand under the table, and Draco smiled ruefully at his best friend. Hermione kissed him on the cheek.

“We’re all just as thankful that you came back, even if you can be a right pain in the arse sometimes.”

A ripple of laughter went around the table, but the tender moment had still been sweet to see. Charlie shot Astoria a smile and handed the jar to Draco. The blonde boy pulled a piece of parchment out and read.

_“Getting my husband back_.”

“Well we know you love him Draco, but your husband? Really?” Harry joked.

Draco kicked him under the table, and Harry grinned while their friends laughed.

Hermione laughed too, “It’s Sadie’s, and I think it’s lovely that what those two are most thankful for amongst all of the terrible things that have happened this year is each other.”

Theo smiled and gently kissed his wife.

“Thanks, love,” he murmured.

“Always,” Sadie whispered back.

Draco smiled at his two friends and handed the jar to Hermione. There weren’t many slips left now.

_“My sister._ ”

Lilly chuckled, “Well it can only be Harry, Astoria or Charlie. No offence Charlie, but I doubt you're that thankful for Ginny.”

“None taken,” Charlie chuckled.

Astoria smiled, “Yes, it’s mine.”

Daphne looked at her in surprise.

“Not getting Charlie back? Or Amber?”

Astoria shook her head, “I wouldn’t have Charlie back if it weren’t for you. I wouldn’t have had the nerve to ask Amber to be my girlfriend, to travel with me, if not for you. All of the other good things happened because _you_ pushed me and I needed that, Daph.”

Daphne swallowed and looked a little tearful.

“Even after all of the arguments we’ve had this year?”

“We always argue, Daph,” Astoria said warmly, “That’s nothing new, but you’re my sister, and I love you. I know I don’t tell you that enough.”

Daphne’s smile lit up the room, “I love you too, Tori.”

Harry smiled at the fond moment between the sisters as Astoria passed the jar to Theo. He picked one out and laughed.

_“My big brother._ It’s obvious who that is, isn’t it? Harry’s not got a brother.”

“Yes, he does,” Lilly said matter of factly, “And he is older.”

“By a day,” Neville chuckled.

“Still older,” Daphne said, smiling at the former Gryffindor.

“I still think it’s Charlie,” Theo said, looking over the redheaded man, “Bill kept him on the straight and narrow while Astoria was off figuring out her bloodlust after all.”

“Theo!” Hermione exclaimed. She kicked him under the table and Sadie smacked him in the arm at the same time.

“Ouch!” Theo grimaced, “I hate being sandwiched between you two!”

Draco shot him a suggestive look and Harry made a face.

“That’s enough about that. Charlie, is that one yours?”

Charlie laughed and nodded.

“Yeah, Bill’s my rock.”

“Which means the last thanks is yours, Harry,” Sadie said as she reached into the jar. She smiled when she read was what written on the parchment.

_“My wife.”_

Daphne caught Harry’s eye across the table, and they shared a fond smile.

“Right!” Theo said, “This is getting too emotional for my teaspoon to handle. I’m overflowing right now.”

“What’s your name, Ron?” Harry retorted.

Theo choked, “I think that’s the worse thing anyone has ever said to me.”

“Oh shut up, you and Ron are friends,” Hermione said offhandedly, “You bonded over both being fathers of twins.”

“That’s not the point,” Theo objected, “He’s still Ron Weasley, the bloody King of Gryffindor.”

“There’s a conundrum for you,” Draco mused, “If he was the King and you were the Princess, Hermione. Who was the Queen?”

“Uh, hello?” Lilly said, pointing at Harry, “Have you met this drama queen?”

At this, the table erupted in laughter.

* * *

Later that evening, the kids went to bed or home to elves or babysitters. And for the most part, the drinks got flowing. Harry found himself sitting on a large cuddle-chair with his around Lilly, chiefly because they were the only two amongst them who were not drinking, so they were doing so in solidarity.

At some stage, Daphne pulled out an old copy of a game called, _“Confessions”_ and Astoria laughed, saying she remembered playing it as children when they were far too young to understand it. It was essentially a card game, designed to get the conversation flowing and to share funny stories. Each card began with a sentence and the person whose turn it was had to complete it.

“You go first then Daph,” Hermione said, “It is your idea after all.”

Daphne pulled a card out and laughed.

“ _My guilty pleasure is…_ ” she shot her best friend an apologetic look, “Lilly.”

Harry snorted, “Yep, that’s hardly news. Is that news to anyone in this room?”

They all shook their heads.

Amber said, “I’ve only met you twice, and even I could have guessed that.”

“For that, you can go next,” Daphne said, levitating a card towards the squib girl.

Amber caught it deftly and grinned at the card.

“ _I still feel terrible about…”_ she paused to think about it, “Punching my dad when he told me about how he met my Mum.”

Lilly snorted, “You punched your Dad?”

Amber grimaced, “Yeah, not my best moment. But I was 14 when I found out the truth about how he met my mum.”

Draco frowned, “The truth? What did you say your surname was again, Amber?”

“I didn’t,” Amber said, a slightly sly smile on her face.

Daphne raised an eyebrow, “What _is_ your surname?”

“Avery,” Amber confessed, “My full name is Amberley Avery.”

There was a stunned silence.

“And you’re a squib?”

“Yep.”

“With a Muggle mother?”

“A Muggle-born mother,” Amber corrected, “And the reason I punched my Dad was that I found out he had kidnapped my mother on Voldemort’s orders. But in some strange twist of fate, she fell in love with him.”

“It’s called Stockholm Syndrome,” Hermione piped up.

Draco looked over sharply.

“How do you know that?”

“I read a lot,” Hermione said sarcastically.

Theo choked down an amused laugh and bit his tongue to keep his comment about Amber’s mother having a control fetish to himself. Draco knew exactly what he was thinking and shot his best friend an amused look.

“Well,” Harry said slowly, “That’s interesting.”

“Yeah,” Daphne agreed, pulling another card out, “Who wants to go next?”

“I will,” Hermione said, holding her hand up for the card. It floated towards her, and she read aloud.

“ _If I knew that I wouldn’t get caught, I would totally…”_ a wicked grin spread across her face, “ – permanently turn Rita Skeeter into her Animagus form and then stomp on her.”

“Wow,” Daphne said, staring at Hermione, “That’s dark.”

“Mione hates Skeeter,” Sadie piped up.

“Yeah, I think we got that part, Sadie,” Neville said.

Lilly chuckled, and Harry grinned.

“To be fair, I’d help.”

Draco shook his head in amusement and looked at his wife.

“You are terrifying. You know that?”

Hermione smirked in response.

Daphne chuckled and sent a card in Draco’s direction.

“Who said I wanted to play?” Draco complained.

“I don’t care, you ‘re playing,” Daphne told him.

“Listen to your big sister, Draco.”

Draco glared at Theo, “I won’t hex you because I don’t condone using magic while drunk, but I will punch you.”

Theo knew he wouldn’t, so he just smirked in response. Draco sent him a half-arsed glare then looked down at his card.

“ _To get out of work, I once told my boss..”_ he shot Hermione a sheepish look, “- that my wife’s cat died. I think Sumner thought you were a crazy cat lady. I used that excuse at least three times.”

Harry choked on his water, and Hermione smacked him over the head.

“You are insufferable!”

Daphne smirked and sent a card in Theo’s direction. The dark-haired boy caught it deftly and grinned at what was on it.

_“I’m not particularly kinky, but I do enjoy.._ ” he looked over at Sadie, who was sitting next to Hermione. The dark-haired woman gave him a warning look, and Sadie raised a knowing eyebrow. Theo grinned and said what he wanted to say, “- when Hermione gets _really_ drunk and convinces Draco that we should all sleep in one room because the castle is so ‘cold’.”

Hermione flicked her wrist in his direction, zipping his mouth shut.

Harry burst out laughing, and the others weren’t far behind him. Theo, despite not being able to speak, still looked pleased with the carnage he had caused.

“He’s staying like that for the rest of the night,” Hermione said.

“I don’t think there will be any complaints there,” Daphne said through her laughter, “Sade, do you want a card?”

Sadie shot Daphne a smile and answered.

“Sure.”

Daphne sent a card her friend's way, and Sadie chuckled when she read it.

“ _I sometimes judge people based on…”_ she looked sheepish, “- their wands.”

Theo snorted, but couldn’t speak.

“Is that an innuendo?” Charlie asked.

Sadie shook her head in amusement.

“No, I genuinely do it. If someone has a particularly big wand, I think they’re very magically powerful.”

“Look at Harry’s, it’s tiny, and he’s very magically powerful,” Daphne pointed out.

The room erupted in laughter, and Harry cut in.

“Do you mind? You’ve never had any complaints before!”

The laughter doubled at this and Daphne chucked a card at him good-naturedly.

“You go then.”

Harry was still chuckling as he looked down at his card.

“ _To this day I still find it highly arousing when…”_ he grinned at his wife, “- Daphne calls me Potter.”

“You two get off on the conflict,” Sadie chuckled, “You’re just like Hermione and Draco.”

“Could you _not_ share details like that about our sex life, Sade?” Draco asked dryly.

Daphne sniggered and handed Lilly a card.

“Do I have to play? I’m not drinking,” Lilly whined.

“It doesn’t matter, you’re playing,” Daphne said assertively.

Lilly made a face and looked down at her card.

“ _My biggest romantic fail…_ ” she thought for a brief moment then smirked, “- was Ron Weasley.”

Hermione cackled at that, and Charlie laughed so hard, he slipped out of his chair much to Astoria’s amusement.

“This is going to the dogs,” Harry murmured in Lilly’s ear.

“It’s hilarious being sober while everyone else is drunk,” Lilly muttered back.

“Welcome to my life,” Harry joked.

Lilly heard the serious undertone and grabbed his hand.

“We’ll make sure someone always stays sober, so you’re not alone in this struggle.”

Harry smiled and pulled her closer. She settled in against him with ease.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m happy watching everyone else being happy.”

Daphne gave Neville a card and asked.

“Do you want a hug, Neville? I feel left out with our other halves getting all cosy over there.”

“Yeah, let’s hug it out,” Neville said with a joking grin. He grabbed Daphne’s hand and pulled her over, hugging her tightly.

“Oi, do you mind? This is the no alcohol support group over here!” Lilly teased, but it was all in good nature and in all seriousness, none of them could remember when they had last been so relaxed.

Neville laughed and pulled away from Daphne to glance down at his card.

“ _I once ended a relationship..”_ he grimaced and looked at Harry, “ _\- because every time I slept with her, I ended up thinking about Harry.”_

“Woah, Nev!” Harry joked, “Brothers, remember?”

“Because she was your girlfriend,” Neville said, kicking Harry in the shin, “I genuinely couldn’t sleep with Ginny without seeing you cursing the shit out of me which became a turn-off pretty quickly.”

“Can’t imagine why,” Daphne said sarcastically.

“Funny,” Neville said, shooting the blonde woman an amused look.

“You next, Tori,” Daphne said, sending a card her sister's way.

Considering what some of the previous cards had been like, Astoria was wary and probably rightfully so.

“ _When someone sleeps with me, I guarantee,”_ she cringed and looked over at Charlie and Amber, “-there will be biting.”

Charlie snorted, “That applied before you were a vampire, love,” he said, winking at her.

“Jeez, man, you are so _smooth_ ,” Amber admired, “How do you do it?”

Charlie grinned and grabbed a card from Daphne.

“It’s a skill.”

“Comes along with that ego you’re always stroking,” Daphne teased.

Charlie laughed, taking the joke in good stead and reading his card.

“ _A date I was on went awkward when..”_ he chuckled to himself, “- I spent the whole thing talking, and I think maybe crying, about how much I missed my ex-wife.”

Harry snorted, “And she still slept with you?”

Charlie grinned, “I’m just that good, what can I say?”

Astoria sniggered and threw a cushion at him, and the evening descended into pure chaos from there.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***


	63. In Between You and Me, There's an Ocean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daphne and Astoria finally get the answers that they have been looking for, but they come from an unlikely source…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS STORY IS OFFICIALLY ON HIATUS!!   
> \- This is so I can focus on a new story and get a bit of break from this one. See the end of chapter notes for full details!
> 
> The chapter title comes from the song:  
> Cold by James Blunt.

“How was your Thanksgiving?”

Daphne looked at Bill across the mezzanine office in their new building.

“Good. I wish you had been able to make it.”

“Ah, couldn’t afford to use a days holiday,” Bill said with a shrug, “I want a decent sign-off settlement from the bank so I can put it into Vic’s savings.”

Daphne smiled, “You’re a great Dad, you know that?”

Bill smiled back, “Thanks. You didn’t tell anyone about Lara, did you?”

“No, and I won’t, I promise,” Daphne said, “I know how scary it is in those early days. I’ll leave it up to you to tell everyone else when you’re ready.”

“Thanks, Daph. I appreciate that.”

Daphne pushed a desk into the corner with magic then leant against it.

“It did get me thinking though…the whole being thankful thing, you know?”

Bill nodded and looked up from what he was doing.

“Yeah?”

“Yes,” Daphne said, a frown forming on her face, “A lot of what I’m thankful for this year concerns Astoria.”

Bill leant back and nodded.

“The whole vampire thing.”

Daphne nodded absentmindedly.

“What did you make of all of that?”

Bill snorted, “Honestly? I had a bit of a laugh at Charlie’s expense, not because she’s a vampire but because he’s in a three-way with two young girls now.”

“If it was anyone else, I’d agree but are we really surprised with Charlie?” Daphne said, amusement tinging her voice.

“No,” Bill chuckled, “I’m really not, but I doubt what I think about it is what’s bothering you.”

“It’s not,” Daphne admitted, “It’s the whole thing with the curse hitting Astoria a year late. I just can’t find a cause for that.”

“I couldn’t either,” Bill admitted, “You checked her birth certificate, didn’t you?”

Daphne nodded, “I did, and it was all above board. I could ask my father about it but…I don’t know, I just get the impression that he would lie. So I asked the portrait of my great-grandmother if she knew anything because her portrait would have been hanging in Greengrass House while we were young. But the weird thing was, she said that my parents put all of the portraits in storage during that time.”

“Because of the fire?” Bill guessed.

“No, this was well before the fire,” Daphne said, she bit down on her lip, “It’s a bit suspicious, don’t you think?”

“Yes, it is. But nothing I can say will convince you to talk to your father about this, will it?” Bill asked. He already knew the answer; he knew Daphne far better than she thought he did.

“No,” Daphne admitted.

“Then you know that there is only one person who can answer your questions,” Bill said.

Daphne sighed heavily, “Yes.”

“And you aren’t going to cross that bridge, are you?”

Daphne bit her lip harder.

“I might have to,” she confessed.

* * *

On Saturday morning, Daphne knocked on the door of Astoria’s flat and drew in a deep breath. The door was pulled open by Charlie, who was standing in nothing but a towel.

“Hey, Charlie,” Daphne said, not letting it faze her, “Is Astoria in?”

“Yeah, she’s just getting dressed,” Charlie said, stepping back from the door.

Daphne stepped inside and waved to Amber, who was sitting at the breakfast bar in a crop top and Calvin Klein pants, “Morning, Amber.”

Amber raised an eyebrow at Charlie, “Is she always this familiar?”

“Pretty much,” Charlie shrugged, “You want coffee, Daph?”

“No, I’m not in the mood this morning,” Daphne said, slipping into the bedroom and shutting the door.

“Tori?”

“Is that you Daph?” Astoria asked from her walk-in wardrobe.

“Yes, we need to talk,” Daphne said, her voice quieter than usual. She didn’t sound as sure of herself as she usually did, which was how Astoria knew that something was up. She emerged from the wardrobe in skinny black jeans and a deep green blouse, a pair of killer heels in her hand.

“What’s up?”

Daphne bit her lip, and Astoria smiled.

“Hey, remember what you always said to me when I did that?”

Daphne gave her a half-hearted smile.

“Don’t do that. You’ll ruin your lipstick?”

“Exactly,” Astoria said, sitting down at her vanity unit and pulling on a shoe, “What’s wrong?”

“I need to go to Azkaban this morning,” Daphne said bluntly because there was no easy way of saying that.

“I’m going to talk to Mother.”

“ _Why?”_ Astoria asked incredulously.

“To find out the truth about the curse, about why it affected you a year late,” Daphne said, “She’s the only one who knows, she’s the woman who gave birth to you.”

“Doesn’t Father know?” Astoria asked.

“I don’t know, maybe,” Daphne said with a frown, “But when you are and I were young, he was securing a lot of foreign contracts. He was away a lot; Phineas was around more than he was.”

“Around long enough to knock our mother up with me,” Astoria said with a roll of her eyes.

“Exactly,” Daphne said, “So I have to talk to her.”

Astoria finished shoving her feet into her high heels.

“When?”

“Soon. I swung by here to let you know, but I’m going straight to the Ministry for secure transportation to Azkaban now,” Daphne replied.

“You’re going like that?” Astoria asked, looking her over.

“Well I’m working today, so yes,” Daphne said with a shrug, “Once I’m done, I need to help Bill track down a cursed pocket watch that is convincing anyone who wears it that they are a damn time traveller.”

Astoria would normally have smiled or chuckled, but not today.

“I’ll go with you.”

Daphne looked up sharply.

“No.”

“This is about me,” Astoria said firmly, “I’m going with you. I know I’m your little sister, and you want to protect me, but you can’t protect me from everything all of the time.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Daphne asked quietly, “I couldn’t protect you from the curse.”

Astoria sighed, “Didn’t I tell you not to beat yourself up about that? Honestly, you and Harry are more alike than you realise.”

She got to her feet and looked at her older sister.

“We’ve done things separately for too long, Daphne. It’s time to get back to the way we used to be, to start doing things like this together again.”

Daphne sighed heavily, “Fine, but if she starts on you, make sure you get out of there. I can take her bullshit-”

“I can too,” Astoria promised, opening the bedroom door.

“Trust me.”

Daphne swallowed her objections and nodded, following her sister back out into the open plan living/dining room/kitchen.

“I need to do something with Daphne this morning,” Astoria said, grabbing a thick winter cloak and her handbag.

“You two will have to keep each other amused for a few hours.”

At this, Charlie grinned and looked over at Amber.

“Want to learn how to feed a baby dragon?”

Amber grinned back, “Are you kidding me? Yes!”

Astoria smiled warmly and kissed Charlie lightly.

“I’ll see you later.”

“Is she okay?” Charlie murmured before he drew back.

“She’s fine,” Astoria replied under her breath. She kissed Amber on the cheek.

“Don’t go near Vera; she’s very touchy because she’s pregnant and please don’t give Echo or any of the babies anything with sugar in it.”

Daphne chuckled, “You really are the Mother of Dragons, huh?”

“Funny,” Astoria said dryly as she left the apartment with her sister.

* * *

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

Astoria grabbed her sister's hand and threaded their fingers together. She nodded and took a breath, looking up at the imposing prison before them. They stood on the edge of the craggy rock, the choppy sea swirling all around them, the tall triangular fortress stretching up to the sky.

Daphne took a step forward and pressed her wand into a small hole in the wall to the right of the portcullis. There was a soft whir, and it disappeared into the wall. Astoria did the same, and a few minutes later after an Auror had verified their wands, they raised the massive iron gate.

They stepped into a dull, concrete courtyard and were greeted by an Auror in brown robes.

“Marchioness Potter, Lady Astoria.”

Daphne bowed her head to the Auror.

“I presume we will get our wands back when we leave?”

“Yes, it is a necessary precaution,” The Auror said respectfully, “We must also blindfold you while we transport you to the secure visitation area.”

Daphne sighed, “Really, Brownlee? You know who I am. You know my husband. Do you really believe that I would attempt to break my mother out of Azkaban?”

“No, ma’am,” The Auror Brownlee stuttered, “But it’s the procedure, and Head Auror Potter is very keen on that. I…forgive me but I wouldn’t be surprised if this were a trick to test our security levels.”

Daphne cocked her head at the young Auror.

“Well done – it was, and you passed with flying colours.”

Brownlee let out a relieved breath and cast, “ _Obscuro,”_ on the two sisters before guiding them to the visitation area that he had spoken of. Once they reached the door to the room, he removed the blindfolds and opened the door which Daphne noticed had at least three layers of security curses on it.

“You have half an hour, my lady,” Brownlee said, bowing his head and gesturing for them to enter.

Daphne stepped inside first, and Astoria followed her. Brownlee pushed the door shut behind them.

“Hello, girls.”

Daphne looked at her mother, warily. She wasn’t unrecognisable, but she looked like she had aged prematurely – it looked like she had spent ten years in prison, not five. She was thinner than she had been before, but not in a healthy way; she looked haggard. The bags beneath her eyes were dark, and her once smooth hair hung limply around her face. Daphne could see what they meant when they said that Azkaban made one lose their aristocratic good looks.

“What level are they keeping you in?” Daphne asked curtly.

“Level three,” Lareina replied. Even her voice seemed different; it lacked the natural gravitas that it once had.

Daphne knew enough about the newly reformed prison to know that level 3 meant high security. Level 1 was low security, and it was chiefly used for the rehabilitation of youth offenders or those who had frequently committed minor crimes.

Level 2 was mid-security and prisoners there were treated well enough – they had a nice room, they were allowed frequent visitors from home, floo calls once a week and such. It housed those who were serving relatively minor sentences, and Daphne had put a few of them in there herself. There was one guy who was serving three years for transfiguring his Muggle neighbour into a garden gnome because his dog refused to stop shitting in his garden. 

Level 3 was high security – it was where attempted murderers, those who had committed manslaughter, caused grievous bodily harm or severe torture were imprisoned. Daphne knew that the cell was sparse, that visitation was limited and that prisoners were not permitted to have any time in the courtyard.

Level 4 was maximum security, and it was for the worst of the worst - the rapists, the murderers, the Death Eaters who had survived the Battle of Hogwarts and probably wished that they hadn’t. There was little to no quality of life; no visitors were allowed in; no communication came from the outside world; it was completely isolated. The only good thing about it was that there were no Dementors, Azkaban was run exclusively by the DMLE and staffed with Aurors these days.

“Care to explain the nature of your visit?” Lareina asked. She sounded tired, “I have heard nothing from either of you since I was convicted, so this visit, pleasant as it is, seems rather out of the ordinary.”

Daphne looked her mother in the eye.

“Did you know that the curse would affect Astoria?”

Lareina sighed and cast her eyes upon her youngest daughter.

“I had hoped that it wouldn’t.”

“Well hope didn’t stop her from essentially becoming a vampire, Mother,” Daphne said lowly, “But do you know what could have? _Me._ I’m a Curse Breaker, and if you had just told me, I could have done something about it before it afflicted her.”

“How exactly could I have told you?” Lareina drawled, “You have refused to speak with me for the past five years.”

“No,” Daphne snarled, “You do not get to make me feel guilty for not talking to you considering that you tried to murder my father!”

“Enough,” Astoria said quietly, but assertively, “We’re not here to point fingers, and regardless, it’s too late for me.”

“You are here because you wish to break the curse then?” Lareina asked, looking between them.

“Which one of your daughters is the youngest of the generation?”

“I have no children, Mother,” Astoria said dryly, “Why would someone with my affliction choose to become a mother? I am a monster, I terrify myself, and I am most certainly not maternal.”

Lareina looked away from Astoria to her eldest child.

“So you have a daughter?”

“I do, but we aren’t here because we need your help breaking the curse,” Daphne said. She sat down at the table opposite her mother, “I managed that just fine without you. My partner and I found the counter-curse, and we had our good friend Clara Selwyn utter the words to break it. The curse will not affect another Crouch; Astoria is the last.”

At least Lareina looked a little guilty about that. Daphne thought to herself, that counted for something.

“What is she called?”

Daphne scoffed, “Why would I tell you? I owe you nothing. I certainly am not obliged to tell you the name of my daughter.”

Lareina looked visibly hurt. She swallowed hard.

“Then, why are you here?”

“Because we want answers,” Daphne said firmly, “The curse affected Astoria after her 22nd birthday, not after her 21st as the curse stated it should. Before you spout some nonsense about the magic being diluted, do not waste your breath. I’m a Curse Breaker, and I know it has nothing to do with that.”

Lareina leant back in her chair.

“I will make you a deal.”

Daphne narrowed her eyes.

“Go on?”

“I will help you, but I want something in return,” Lareina said quietly, “I would like you both to tell me about your families.”

Daphne looked at her sister. Astoria nodded, and Daphne sighed.

“Fine. You have a deal.”

Lareina placed her hands on the table and looked down at them.

“On the 10th of August, 1981, your father and I welcomed our second-born daughter into the world. We named her Astoria Aphrodite Greengrass, and on the 14th of October that same year, she died in her sleep.”

Daphne looked on in horror as Lareina shut her eyes tightly.

“I was so angry at the house-elf who brought her to me, wrapped up in that pink blanket…I almost killed him.”

Astoria looked torn between being shocked and horrified. Lareina took a slow breath and opened her eyes, tears spilling from them the moment she did so.

“Your father and I already had a strained relationship. He blamed me and began to work abroad to avoid spending time with me. It was Phineas who helped through those incredibly dark days.”

Daphne already knew where this was going, but she remained silent, frozen in disbelief and horror as her mother told the tale.

“In November, your father was caught smuggling squibs from American pureblooded families over the border into Mexico so they could escape on boats,” Lareina said, her eyes still fixed on the table, “And in January, I discovered that I was pregnant. Anyone would know that the child was not Cygnus’s; he had been in prison on the other side of the world when it was conceived.”

“Oh my god,” Daphne muttered, “So you pretended that the child born from your affair was the child you lost?”

Lareina swallowed and nodded.

“The second Astoria – you,” She looked at her youngest daughter, “You were born in secret, and we lived a very secluded life until you were old enough to pass as a girl who was small for her age because she had been born prematurely. We never notified anyone of your birth, and we pretended that you were the Astoria Greengrass who was born in 1981, but truthfully…you were born on the 20th of August, 1982.”

“So all of those times that I struggled,” Astoria said quietly, “All of those times I couldn’t do a spell that I should have been able to do? It wasn’t because I was bad at magic like you had me believe, it was because my magical core wasn’t stabilised as much as it should have been. When my classmates laughed at me for being the only one unable to defeat a boggart in third year, when I spent hours in the library with Daphne trying to prepare for my exams because I just couldn’t keep up. You knew, you _knew,_ and you just let me struggle.”

“There was no other choice,” Lareina began to say, “Nobody could find out-”

“Just shut up!” Daphne ground out, “There was a choice! There is _always_ a choice, but you decided that keeping your affair secret was more important than your daughters quality of life because you are and you always have been, incredibly selfish.”

Astoria grabbed Daphne’s wrist.

“Don’t.”

“No,” Daphne said, yanking her arm away from Astoria, “She needs to hear this.”

Daphne turned to look at her mother.

“Thankfully, after Father recovered, he adopted Astoria, so at least she has one decent parent in her life. It’s a shame that it took 20 years for that to happen for her though, isn’t it?”

Lareina swallowed, “He recovered?”

“He recovered,” Daphne said, “He got out of his wheelchair and walked me down the aisle. He gave a speech on my wedding day. And do you know what? I lied when I said Astoria only had one decent parent because she has two. Our step-mother is the most selfless, wonderful person I have ever met. She would do anything for her children, that includes her biological one and Astoria and I. And she adores all of her grandchildren, whether they are hers by marriage or blood.”

Tears shone in Lareina’s eyes.

“You promised me that you would tell me about my grandchildren-”

Daphne pushed herself to her feet.

“I have four children. Edward Remus Lupin-Potter who Harry and I adopted shortly after we got married. Alastor Sirius Potter is our second son, who we adopted when it seemed like we would be unable to have children. Andrea Lilly Potter is our eldest daughter, and she is named for Andromeda Tonks, who was incredibly important to us before her untimely death. Theodora Tracey Potter is our youngest daughter, and she is named for the only person from your side of the family who I do not utterly despise - cousin Theodore.”

She shot her mother a vindictive look.

“And they are not your grandchildren; they are Narcissa Greengrass’s.”

A sob escaped Lareina, but Daphne ignored it and hit the door loudly. Feet immediately began to approach the door, and Daphne turned to her mother one last time.

“You brought this entirely upon yourself. If you ever get out of here, stay the hell away from us and our families.”

The door was pulled open; Daphne grabbed Astoria’s hand and pulled her sister out of the room. The Auror shut the door heavily, and Astoria looked at Daphne.

“It’s okay; you can let it out now.”

Daphne grabbed Astoria and pulled her into a tight hug, her body shaking as she let out the tears she had been holding back while they had been in the visitation room.

* * *

When Astoria found Charlie and Amber, they were in the garden of the house that they had bought after they had gotten married. Astoria had taken it off the market and Charlie was in the process of moving the dragons back in, they were delighted to be back home, and it made Astoria smile to see Charlie so content too.

Bill was with them in the garden, judging from the empty cages and the two young Welsh Greens that were flying free, she guessed that he had brought some more dragons over for his younger brother.

They were all drinking coffee together when Astoria reached them, looking as mentally exhausted as she felt, no doubt.

“What’s wrong?” Charlie asked, reading her expression instantly.

“Yeah, where were you this morning?” Amber echoed.

Astoria sighed and drew her cloak closer.

“Azkaban.”

“What?” Charlie and Amber barked.

“Daphne and I went to visit our mother,” Astoria explained, “To find out why the curse affected me at 22 instead of 21 and long story short, it did affect me at 21, I just _thought_ I was 22.”

Charlie frowned, “What?”

“My mother had a daughter before me who was called Astoria as well,” Astoria told them, “She died when she was a couple of months old and when I was conceived, Cygnus was in prison in the US. My mother didn’t want her affair with her husband's brother to be discovered, so she pretended that I was the Astoria who had died, but in reality - I was born in August 1982.”

“Wow,” Amber uttered, “That is…wow, that’s taking protecting your image to a whole new level.”

Charlie looked dumbstruck.

“But…but…I slept with you in September 1999.”

Astoria frowned, “Yes?”

“I thought you had just turned 18,” Charlie said quietly, “But you had just turned 17.”

“So she was legal then,” Amber shrugged.

“Barely!” Charlie exclaimed, “And _I_ was 26.”

“You were _nearly_ 27,” Bill said, smirking at his brother.

“Shut up, Bill!”

Astoria crossed her arms.

“Are you seriously freaking out more about this than you did about the fact I suck blood now?”

“Yes!” Charlie exclaimed, “Holy mother of fuck, you were younger than my baby sister and I… I _defiled_ you.”

“And I enjoyed it, let’s move on,” Astoria said.

Amber snorted, “You are very kinky in the bedroom.”

Charlie still looked horrified, “You were still Hogwarts-age.”

“What?” Astoria asked irritably.

“You had just finished school when I met you,” Charlie said, “But if you were actually 17, you should have been about to start seventh year.”

Bill snorted, “Honestly, Charlie, you paedophile.”

“Your first wife was younger than you,” Astoria pointed out.

“Yes, by seven years, not by _ten_ ,” Bill remarked.

“Nine,” Charlie cut in.

“It’s almost ten with how your birthdays fall,” Bill grinned, he was enjoying this a little too much.

“You really can’t talk, though. Oh, I suppose Fleur wasn’t fresh out of school,” Charlie said with an air of sarcasm.

“Oh, wait – yes, she was! In fact, she was still wearing her Beauxbatons school uniform when you first met her. Oh, William Weasley, you dirty old man.”

“Firstly, fuck you, and secondly, you defiled a 17-year-old girl,” Bill said, stabbing his brother in the chest with his wand.

“You met your wife at a school, during a school event whilst she was in a school uniform,” Charlie said, “I met Astoria as an independent graduate who acted older than she was because she thought she was older than she was.”

“You met me in a school actually,” Astoria cut in, “You blasted Death Eater into the ground during the Battle of Hogwarts, Daphne yelled thanks to you because he had been firing spells at my friends and me. Then I ran away, _in my school uniform._ ”

Bill smirked, and Charlie looked defeated.

“Well, fuck.”

* * *

“I give up!”

“Hermione-”

“It’s never going to happen!”

“Princess-”

“I’m a failure!” Hermione shrieked, throwing herself into a chair in the kitchen of Blacknot Castle.

“Hermione, love,” Theo said, gripping her shoulders, “You need to calm the fuck down. I think you’ve made the house-elves all go deaf.”

Hermione glared at him.

“This isn’t funny, Theodore!”

Theo sat down opposite her.

“Did I say it was funny?”

“You smirked,” Hermione said, and the pout on her face was almost cute.

“You’ve scared your husband and your best friend out of the castle with your stressing,” Theo pointed out with a small smile.

“Be grateful my eardrums are strong enough to withstand your temper tantrum.”

“It’s not a temper tantrum!” Hermione complained, stamping her foot as she did so.

Theo shot her a cheeky grin.

“Isn’t it?”

Hermione glared at him.

“Look,” Theo said, reaching out and grabbing her hand, “Just because the opinion polls don’t place you in the top ten, that doesn’t mean you won’t get your Wizengamot seat.”

“It does,” Hermione said tearfully, “The election is tomorrow, and nobody will vote for me!”

“No, that’s not true,” Theo said firmly, “Hardly anyone bothers replying to an opinion poll because they don’t think it matters. But they do show up to the election, okay?”

Hermione didn’t look convinced; she looked utterly defeated.

Theo gave her a winning smile, “Right, think about it this way. What do you think would have happened if Marie Curie had given up?”

“She wouldn’t have died of radiation poisoning,” Hermione muttered under her breath.

Theo laughed and held her chin between two of his fingers. He forced him to look up at her as he spoke.

“Yes, that’s true. But she also wouldn’t have discovered radium, think how many Muggles would have died needlessly of cancer.”

Hermione looked at him, tearfully.

“You are just like her,” Theo promised, “You have the same indomitable spirit, and you don’t let anything get you down. In the darkest days of the war when even I was thinking about handing myself over to Voldemort, _you_ kept reading, you kept learning, and you never gave up so don’t you dare give up now.”

Hermione nodded and threw herself into his arms.

“Thank you, Theo,” she said tearfully as he held her tightly.

Theo kissed the top of her head.

“You’re going to get that seat, mark my words, and you are going to do amazing things.”

“You really think I’m like Marie Curie?” Hermione asked, pulling back and wiping her tears with the sleeve of her cardigan.

Theo smiled at her and said, “Nah, I think you’re better than Marie Curie.”

At this, Hermione promptly burst into tears.

* * *

On Monday, wizarding Britain held its first election. Pictures of candidates were plastered all over the walls of the three polling stations - the Ministry, the Leaky Cauldron and the Three Broomsticks. The turn out was huge, far better than the polls had predicted and the results were to be counted that night. A result was expected to be announced in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The Potters, Longbottoms, Blacks and Notts decided to camp out at Potter Manor while they awaited the results. They all dozed on and off through the night, listening for the radio announcement and finally, at 6 am, it came.

“It’s on!” Hermione exclaimed.

“Hermione,” Daphne groaned, “The kids are sleeping.”

“Sorry,” Hermione said sheepishly, her hand shaking as she turned the volume up on the radio so that they could all hear the announcement.

“… _And in a ground-breaking first election, we can now announce that all of the seats have been filled.”_

Hermione bit her lip, and Draco brushed it with his finger.

“Don’t do that love, you’ll hurt yourself,” he murmured.

“ _Leading us into this revolution is the youngest ever Chief Mugwump, Neville Longbottom.”_

Neville was the only person who hadn’t been present for the mass sleep-over, and as his voice floated to them through the radio waves, they understood why.

“ _I am honoured to announce that we have filled every seat on the Wizengamot and that the turn-out was beyond what we expected during this first year of real democracy. There are of course some fixed seats and these ten seats belong to;_

_The Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt._

_The Head of St. Mungo’s, Alexander Beckett._

_The Head of Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagall._

_The Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Tiberius McLaggen._

_The Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, Murray MacDougall._

_The Head of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, Gareth Perks._

_The Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, Ezekiel Smith._

_The Head of the Department of Magical Transportation, Amos Diggory._

_The Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, Hubert Davies.”_

There was a pause, and then Neville continued, “ _In addition to this, Gringotts Bank elected an ambassador to represent them, and that is the esteemed goblin, Varteg. A vampire representative was elected by the covens native to Great Britain, and that seat belongs to Ezra Whitlock. Finally, the Werewolves elected Robert Wolfe as their representative.”_

Harry grinned proudly, “Yes, go wolf-dad,” he murmured sleepily.

Daphne chuckled from his side.

“ _With regard to the elected seats. I shall announce them in alphabetical order,”_ Neville’s voice announced.

Hermione was bouncing on the balls of her feet.

“Look on the bright side love, our name is close to the beginning of the alphabet,” Draco said softly.

That didn’t seem to make Hermione feel much better.

“ _Earl Howard Abbott of Abbott Castle.”_

Hermione wrung her hands together.

“ _The Honourable Marcus Belby.”_

Hermione swallowed, and Draco shot Theo an edgy look.

_“Viscount Draco Black of Blacknot Castle.”_

“Congratulations, Draco,” Harry whispered tentatively as Hermione rocked back and forth, looking more than a little demented.

_“Viscountess Hermione Black of Blacknot Castle.”_

Everyone winced as Hermione screamed and jumped up and down.

“I’m in the Wizengamot! I have a seat! I have a seat!”

She launched herself at Draco, who looked positively bemused. Theo chuckled and pulled her away from her husband to kiss her on the cheek and say, “I told you that you could do it, Princess.”

Hermione beamed at him, and a sharp cry sounded upstairs.

“I wonder what woke Thea up,” Daphne said sarcastically.

Theo snorted, “I’ll get her.”

“No, don’t worry about it-”

“You’re missing the announcement, and the Greengrass’s will be next,” Theo said with an easy smile, “I’m not in the running, I’ll go and get your adorable baby.”

Daphne smiled warmly, “Thanks, Theo.”

“You missed Norah Cauldwell, Sadie’s Aunt. And also Roger Davies and Justin Finch-Fletchley,” Harry said when Daphne rejoined him on one of the sofas.

Daphne nodded as Neville’s voice cut through the room once more.

“ _Lady Astoria Greengrass of Greengrass House.”_

Daphne smiled proudly, but it was wiped off of her face upon hearing the next name.

“ _Earl Cygnus Greengrass of Greengrass House.”_

Harry squeezed her hand, but they said nothing on the subject. Daphne felt conflicted about her father at the moment. A quick scan of his memories proved that initially he had been placed under an imperius curse so that he could not tell Astoria the truth. However, since he woke up from his brush with death, that had been wiped, and he had elected not to tell them.

Astoria had accepted it when he said that he hadn’t seen the point and that he hadn’t wanted to hurt her. But Daphne had been betrayed more times than her sister, and it took her longer to forgive. She would put up with her father, for Narcissa and Astoria’s sake more than anything else, but he was certainly not her favourite person at the moment.

While she was lost in thought, the names drifted into her head, but Daphne didn’t register them until she heard the name of another person that she knew relatively well.

“ _Laird Hamish MacDougall of MacDougall Castle…Viscount Ernest Macmillan of Macmillan House…The Honourable Cormac McLaggen…Lady Salvadora Nott of Nott Manor.”_

“What?” Daphne exclaimed.

Theo chuckled. He had re-entered the room with Thea just in time to hear the announcement.

“I knew she was running, and I’m glad she got in. She’s been bored lately, looking for things to do, you know?”

Sadie smiled, “Well, that will certainly keep her busy.”

_“Lady Emmeline Ollivander…Marquis Harry Potter of Potter Manor.”_

Draco grinned and slapped him on the back.

“Congrats mate.”

“Oh, he was always going to get in,” Hermione said, smiling fondly at her old friend, “He saved the wizarding world.”

Harry smiled ruefully, “I didn’t ask for this, Hermione.”

Daphne kissed him on the cheek.

“We know you didn’t, baby,” she promised.

“ _Rosie Rosmerta, a commoner…Stan Shunpike, a commoner…Baron Horace Slughorn of Cherry End…The Honourable Robert Spalding…The Honourable Horatio Turpin…The Honourable Arthur Weasley.”_

Harry grinned at Hermione, who positively beamed back, and the Weasley theme continued.

“ _The Honourable Percy Weasley….Baroness Susan Bones-Weasley of Bones Manor…The Honourable William Weasley.”_

“Oh Merlin, it’s happening,” Draco said dryly, “The Weasley’s are taking over the world.”

Harry smirked as Sadie lazily smacked Draco around the head.

_“The Honourable Jennifer Weir-Wolfe.”_

Harry snorted, “Rob’s gonna love that.”

The others chuckled in agreement.

_“The Honourable Oliver Wood of Wood Villa…The Honourable Belinda Zabini of High Top House and the Honourable Blaise Zabini of High Top House._

_All those elected will be notified in writing before our first meeting one month today. Thank you to the wizarding world generally for accepting this monumental change and thank you individually to everyone who took the time to vote.”_

The radio crackled out, and Harry smiled proudly at Hermione, “Time to change the world again, Hermione, and this time you get a front-row seat.”

Hermione bounced on the balls of her feet, and Theo handed Thea off to Lilly then he grabbed Hermione from behind, “You deserve it,” he said as she squealed.

Draco grabbed her from the front, “You really do,” he agreed.

Before long, it became a group hug, and the drawing-room of Potter Manor was filled with love and laughter, as it had been before the year that had threatened to rip them all apart.

*** ~ TBC ~ ***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, guys! Sorry about the influx of chapters, but that's us all up to date, and I hope most (if not all) current storylines tied up. There is more to come, this is the story that I always come back to, but for the moment I need a break to focus on something a bit different.
> 
> So keep your eyes peeled for my new story - "The Devil in Me" which will be appearing within the next couple of weeks.   
> ~ It's a dark!Harry story, it's Harry x Daphne. Other pairings are yet to be decided, but I have a few ideas - currently swithering between Hermione x Draco x Theo and Hermione x Fred x George. Any preferences there?   
> ~ The story begins with a what if, and that is: What if Snape wasn't such a great big bag of dicks and did the humane thing, what if he showed Harry his memories and told him he was a Horcrux at the end of his sixth year?   
> ~ Of course that opens up a whole can of worms that shouldn't have been opened and long story short, Harry comes back to Hogwarts for his seventh year without glasses, having had a growth spurt, with a baby Basilisk around his shoulders. Oh yeah, he's also Head Boy under the Snape-run school and he's Voldemort's right-hand man.  
> ~ So it will have Weasley bashing (just Molly, Ron and Ginny though) and also manipulative!Dumbledore. It's going to be rated E for eventual rough sex scenes and for language and graphic description of violence.  
> ~ As for characters: Draco, Theo, Neville, Hermione, Lilly are all staples as are certain Weasley's (Bill, Charlie, the twins). There are a lot of OC's and I'm trying to come up with a way to work Susan into it, but it features heavily on characters that haven't been explored in this story - the likes of Rookwood, etc. The not completely insane Death Eaters who do seem to have a brain!
> 
> I'm super excited about it, and it's so much fun to write, so I hope you all enjoy it too!
> 
> Thanks, everyone! :)


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